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LIFE-PICTURES 

or 

"THE PRODIGAL SON." 

A 

GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION: 

GENIAL, SEARCHING, AND KIND. 
Rev. D^Y.^HEISLER, A.M., 

\\ 

EDITOR AND AUTHOR, IN PART, AND CONTINUATOR OF HAREAUGH'S 

"FATHERS OF THE GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH IN 

EUROPE AND AMERICA." 



"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have 
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the 
city ."—Rev. 22: 14. 



AUTHOR'S EDITION. 



PHILADELPHIA. 

1877. 






The L 
of 

washington 



- 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 187T, by 

REV. D. Y. HEISLER, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



{Right of Translation Reserved.'] 



Elzctrotyped and Printed 

by 

Grant, F aires & Rodgers, 

Philadelphia. 



TO MY 

BRETHREN IN THE MINISTRY, 
TEACHERS IN THE S. SCHOOL & OTHER LABORERS, 

SEEKING ▲ QUIET, UNOBTRUSIVE HELPER J 
TO 

ANXIOUS FATHERS AND WEEPING MOTHERS, 

TREMULOUS FOR THE SAFETY OF THEIR CHILDREN J 
TO 

ALL EARTH'S ERRING, SINNING, AND WEARY ONES, 

NEEDING THE BALM OF LOVE AND WARNING; 
AND ESPECIALLY TO ALL 

EARNEST YOUNG MEN & YOUNG LADIES, 

LOVERS OF GOD, OF TRUTH, AND OF PURITY J 

THIS LITTLE VOLUME, 

WITNESS OF MANY TEARS AND PRAYERS, 
IS 

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 



SONG OF THE CROSS. 



Blest they who seek 

While in their youth, 

With spirit meek, 

The way of truth. 
To them the sacred Scriptures now display, 
Christ as the only true and living way; 
His precious blood on Calvary was given 
To make them heirs of endless bliss in heaven, 
And e'en on earth the child of God can trace 
The glorious blessings of his Saviour's grace. 

For them he bore 

His Father's frown ; 

For them he wore 

The thorny crown ; 

Nailed to the cross, 

Endured its pain, 

That his life's loss 

Might be their gain. 

Thou hast to choose 

That better part, 

Nor ever dare refuse 

The Lord your heart, 

Lest, haply, he declare 

"I know you not," 

And deep despair 

For ever be your lot; 

Now look to Jesus, who on Calvary died, 

And trust on Him alone who there was crucified. 

— Selected. 



PREFACE. 



The following pages are designed as a solemn call from 
God to the erring and weary ones of earth, especially to the 
young and inexperienced. They contain the substance of 
some ten or twelve Sunday Evening Lectures, delivered 
originally in Lewisburg, Pa., about twenty years ago. 
Subsequently, in 1859, they were repeated, substantially, in 
Bethlehem, Pa., during my pastorate there, in German. 

These Lectures, having been attended with marked 
success when first delivered, would long since have been 
written out, arranged, and sent forth in book form, had 
every thing gone right; but, unfortunately, some of my 
stray thoughts — ingrate offspring of my laboring brain — gave 
me the slip, and have been, I think, wandering in masque- 
rade, out in the "wide, wide world," ever since. Hence, 
in writing out this little book, I have not referred, except 
in one or two cases, to any authorities, in prose, nor 
consulted even my own earlier '< notes," lest, in doing so, I 
should seem to have been making bargains in the absence 
of other parties. The Hymns and Sacred Poetry which I 
had occasion to introduce into these pages, I have carefully 
referred to their several sources, as far as it lay in my power 



VI PREFACE. 

to do so. Undesigned omissions and inadvertencies, I hope, 
will be generously overlooked. 

I now send forth this unpretending little volume on its 
sweet errand of mercy, hoping that it may meet with a 
kind and cordial reception from all lovers of truth and 
righteousness ; and that, unwearied in its pilgrimage, it may 
accomplish a great and good work in the service of its 
Divine Lord and Master, gently and kindly leading earth's 
weary and way-worn wanderers back to Him who is the 
"bright and morning star" — the sweet, sparkling fountain 
of life, light, and love. " And the Spirit and the bride 
say — come ; and let him that heareth say — come ; and let 
him that is athirst, — come ; and whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." 

Sweet words of welcome these to the weary ones ! Go 
forth, then, thou gentle little Worker in the Kingdom of 
God; and may the blessed Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 
go with thee, sustaining, aiding, and prospering thee in thy 
labor of love with His gracious presence and Fatherly 
benediction ! 

THE AUTHOR. 

Mont Alto, Pa., Easter Morn, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

DEDICATION 3 

BONO OF THE CROSS 4 

PREFACE 5 

INTRODUCTION 9 

THE FAMILY; OR HOME-LIFE 17 

THE OMINOUS REQUEST, AND DIVISION OF PROPERTY 30 

THE DEPARTURE; OR, AWAY INTO THE FAR COUNTRY 39 

THE DISSIPATION, OR WASTING OF GO0D8 49 

THE FAMINE, AND ITS PRESSURE 59 

THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE 66 

THE PAINFUL EXTREMITY, OR UTTER DESTITUTION 76 

THE INTROVERSION; OR, PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION 86 

THE MANLY RESOLUTION J OR, " I WILL ARISE AND GO TO MY FATHER " 96 

THE PROMPT ACTION; OR, BACK TO THE FATHER'S HOUSE 110 

THE GRACIOUS RECEPTION, AND RECONCILIATION 121 

THE GENEROUS CONFESSION AND REHABILITATION 128 

THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES 138 

SAFELY HOUSED, OR "HOME AGAIN" 149 

THE REVERSE PICTURE 155 

THE PUZZLE; OR PAINFUL SURPRI8E 165 

THE MYSTERY SOLVED 174 

THE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION 184 

THE TRIUMPH OF GENTLENESS AND LOVE , i95 

THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED 205 

CONCLUDING RE31AB-I8 » 216 

"FATHER, TAKE MY HAND" ; 223 

vii 



INTRODUCTION. 



"As, lone, Life's thorny path we tread, 
With danger fraught, beset with sin, 
Lord, may we, by Thy Spirit led, 
Have clear and certain light within." 

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, is one of a 
circle of three, occurring in the same chapter, 
Lu. xv. — all of which are distinguished for their 
exquisite beauty, deep pathos, and thrilling 
interest. Of these, the last one is called, by an 
eloquent and popular author, the " crown and 
glory/ 1 A very slight and cursory examina- 
tion of this beautiful Parable, will fully convince 
any one of the correctness of this judgment. 
Both as regards beauty of arrangement, and 
fullness of detail, as well as its transcendently 
sweet and pathetic spirit, and that fascinating 
1* 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

power, which surrounds it like a halo of glory 
from the eternal world, — the Parable of the 
Prodigal Son stands unrivalled among the figu- 
rative discourses of our blessed Lord. No one 
can read it attentively without feeling, at once, 
that, in every line, and phrase, and word, and 
letter, it breathes forth in sweetest, deepest, ten- 
derest accents, the subduing power, and entran- 
cing spirit and magic of the divine love and 
compassion ; which, unlike every other power, 
works so mysteriously upon the human heart, 
and gently subdues it into a state of sincere 
penitence and childlike faith. As we silently 
gaze upon the many chaste and pleasing images 
of beauty and tenderness that pass before our 
spiritual vision, while reading it, we are filled 
with wonder and amazement. 

The magnificent and home-like mansion of the 
unfortunate youth, — fittest image of the hea- 
venly home — so replete with domestic peace and 
love, and sweet contentment, so radiant with 
the bright and genial glow of mutual affection, 
and affording every wished-for blessing and 
comfort, instinctively awakens in our aching 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

hearts the ardent and earnest wish that it were 
our home; while the evident discontent of the 
unfortunate youth, as naturally fills us with a 
feeling of mingled sadness and sorrowing disap- 
proval. We can scarcely realize to ourselves 
the strange fact, that, in a situation so favorable 
to virtue and happiness, and, in every respect, 
so desirable, any one could become dissatisfied 
and long for a change ; and yet such is the fact. 
And what is stranger still, is, that the same sad 
experience is constantly made by thousands 
upon thousands of unfortunate young men and 
young women of the present day. Inmates of 
the most beautiful and attractive homes, sur- 
rounded with every comfort that heart could 
wish, and blessed with every privilege that life 
affords, they yet dream of more enchanting 
scenes and lovelier homes, of more refined and 
exquisite enjoyments, and of larger and more 
blessed privileges, and sweeter bliss, away out 
in the " wide, wide world." And, influenced 
and deluded by their distorted visions, elated 
and unsettled by their strangely excited and 
bewildering imaginations, and fascinated by their 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

fancied advantages, looming up in the dim dis- 
tance, they hastily leave the paternal mansion ; 
and, like the Prodigal Son, seek their fortune, 
and find their ruin, among loveless strangers, 
in a strange and unknown land, and in the 
midst of strange and perilous surroundings. 

In this country, especially, where everything 
is in continual motion, and where the habits of 
the people are so fearfully unsettled, a subject 
like the present is invested with special interest, 
and bears an aspect of peculiar significance. 
And this view of the case is clothed with addi- 
tional importance and solemnity, when it is 
remembered that Home or the domestic circle, 
in fact, constitutes the basis of both Church 
and State, and imparts character and coloring 
alike to both. Hence the importance of 
awakening and carefully fostering in the bosom 
of youth an ardent affection for, and strong 
attachment to, what may be regarded as the 
basis of all civil and religious prosperity — the 
domestic circle, and its mighty, far-reaching, 
and controlling influences. 

Want of such love to home and home-life is 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

invariably associated with danger to the hap- 
less victim. Discontent and alienation of heart 
are sure to follow, also, in the higher and holier 
sphere of religion; which, in fact, consists 
largely in love to God's house — the blessed 
home of the saints. To check and extinguish, 
if possible, this spirit of thoughtless discontent 
among the young and inexperienced portion of 
our people, and, more especially, to excite and 
cherish a spirit of generous love and regard for 
the Church of Christ, which is imaged forth by 
the earthly home, and forms the subject, under 
one point of view, of the present Parable, and, 
thus, to save the young from everlasting ruin, 
is the Author's sole aim and object in the com- 
position of the following Treatise. The intrin- 
sic importance of the subject, and its intimate 
connection with our present and future welfare, 
will be made to appear more evident and 
striking as we proceed in our discussion. 

It is only necessary yet to say, that, in the 
prosecution of our work, we shall present the 
subject in the form of a lucid, running, and easy 
comment on the sacred text, enlivened with 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

ample illustrations, and enforced in the way of 
constant, solemn, and affectionate application of 
the subject to the hearts and consciences of the 
readers. With these preliminary remarks, and 
in earnest prayer for the blessing of God upon 
our well-meant efforts for the salvation of souls, 
we proceed to the main -body of our subject — 
the faithful exposition of this most beautiful 
and exquisite Parable of the Prodigal Son — the 
"crown and glory" of the sacred trio. The 
Parable will be found to rest, throughout, on 
the idea of the family, and the blessed associa- 
tions which cluster around that sweetest and 
most touching of all the dear names that are 
known, and loved, and cherished, here, on earth, 
namely — " Home." 

"THOU KNOWEST, LORD." 

Thou knowest, Lord, the weariness of sorrow 
Of the sad heart that comes to thee for rest; 

Cares of to-day, and burdens for to-morrow, 
Blessings implored and sins to be confessed : 

I come before thee at thy gracious word, { 

And lay them at thy feet ; thou knowest, Lord. 

Thou knowest all the past; how long and blindly 
On the dark mountains the lost sheep had strayed ; 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

How the good Shepherd followed, and how kindly 

Be bore it home, upon his shoulders laid, 
And healed the bleeding wounds, and soothed the pain, 
And brought back life and hope and strength again. 

Thou knowest all the present ; each temptation, 

Each toilsome duty, each foreboding fear ; 
All to myself assigned of tribulation, 

Or to beloved ones than self more dear; 
All pensive memories, as I journey on, 
Longings for vanished smiles and voices gone. 

Thou knowest all the future ; gleams of gladness, 

By stormy clouds too quickly overcast, 
Hours of sweet fellowship and parting sadness, 

And the dark river to be crossed at last. 
O what could hope and confidence arffbrd 
To tread that path, but this, thou knowest, Lord ? 

Thou knowest, not alone as God, all knowing; 

As man, our mortal weakness thou hast proved; 
On earth, with purest sympathies o'erflowing, 

O Saviour, thou hast wept and thou hast loved I 
And love and sorrow still to thee may come, 
And find a hiding-place, a rest— a home I 

Therefore I come, thy gentle call obeying, 

And lay my sins and sorrows at thy feet, 
On everlasting strength my weakness staying, 

Clothed in thy robe of righteousness complete; 
Then rising and refreshed I leave thy throne, 
And follow on to know as I am known. —&.kcted. 



GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 



I. THE family; OR HOME-LIFE. 

" Home is the sphere of harmony and peace, 
The spot where angels find a resting place, 
When, bearing blessings, they descend to earth." 

Home, or the family circle, involves in its 
conception the closest and tenderest ties. Of 
all the bright and cherished spots on earth, 
home is by far the brightest and the loveliest, 
and awakens in us feelings such as cannot be 
elicited by anything else on earth. Hence we 
naturally love home, and cling to it with a 
strength and tenacity of feeling, and an ardor 
of affection, which are exercised in connection 
with no other object. Even the most degraded 
and lawless among men, the most abandoned 
among women, and the most disorderly and 
worthless among children, generally retain some 
regard for the home of their early days — the 



18 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

familiar scenes of their innocent sports; and 
many an outlaw has no doubt been reclaimed, 
many a fallen and dissolute one restored, and 
many an erring youth saved, temporally and 
eternally, by the power of home and of home 
associations. 

Chief among these tender relations are those 
between parents and children, and between the 
children themselves, and partly, also, between 
these and the domestics — the faithful servants, 
so essential to the idea of a comfortable home. 

Who can adequately describe the fervor and 
strength of a parent's love ! How constantly 
and unremittingly does the faithful father labor 
and toil for the support and comfort of his loved 
ones ! How earnestly are his early and late 
hours occupied in devising ways and means to 
provide for the diversified and ever-recurring 
wants of his faithful companion and beloved 
children! And how unspeakably pure, and 
deep, and angel-like, in all her acts and ways, 
does a faithful Christian mother appear ! With 
strong and deathless affection, and unwavering 
fidelity, and ceaseless solicitude, she watches 



THE FAMILY; OR nOME-LIFE. 19 

over the interests, temporal and spiritual, of her 
little charge — her children. Nor is her care 
and anxiety for the welfare of her husband less 
conspicuous and praiseworthy. From day to 
day she labors, and toils, and worries along to 
keep the house tidy and pleasant, so as to min- 
ister to his comfort, who, in the evening 
twilight, returns weary and care-worn to his 
humble dwelling. This depth and ardor of af- 
fection comes out, especially, in seasons of 
sickness or other family afflictions. Hour after 
hour, day after day, and night after night, she, 
the loving wife and faithful mother, sits by the 
couch of the sick and suffering ones, gently 
soothing their sorrows, relieving their wants, 
and ministering, with the tenderness and disin- 
terested affection of an angel, to the wants of 
the sick and the dying. 

And here, too, mingling in the busy scenes 
of parental love and its ten thousand kindly 
and sympathetic offices, comes in the beautiful 
picture of filial affection. The strength and 
manliness of a brother's love, the grace and 
sweetness of a sister's deeper and warmer feel- 



20 GIFT BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

ing, and the combined influence and power of 
both brotherly and sisterly affection, as exer- 
cised towards parents, together form a picture, 
which, in point of beauty and sublimity, as also 
of subduing, elevating, and controlling power 
and influence, is absolutely unequalled on earth ! 

A family thus constituted, abounding in all 
the sweet and pleasing amenities of life, redo- 
lent with the purest and freest love, and 
characterized by the warmest and tenderest 
reciprocal affection, is in itself a place to be 
earnestly desired — a magic circle, wherein one 
might safely wish himself held in everlasting 
captivity. Such a home, with its pure, spark- 
ling, perennial fountains of love, parental, filial, 
and fraternal, should be the object of our warm- 
est, and truest, and most enduring affection ; 
and, to abide within its hallowed enclosure, and 
share in its rich and incomparable blessings, 
should be the object of our highest ambition ! 

Not alone the dear Christian family, however, 
nor its unfathomable depths of love and recipro- 
cal affection, and offices of mutual kindness, and 
sympathetic services, are the chief attractions 



the family; or HOME-LIFE. 21 

in this family picture, which, at present, claims 
our attention. Above, we have already stated 
that the family constitutes the basis of civil and 
religious society — of Church and State. And 
we now wish to add, that the family, especially 
the Christian family, with its altar and its priest, 
with its morning and evening oblations, with 
its songs of praise, its penitent supplications, 
and its loving intercessions for all mankind, is 
a lively image and expressive type and prophecy 
of that family of " the redeemed from among 
men," here on earth, and of that consummated 
family of the same redeemed ones, made perfect 
in heaven, of which it is our inestimable 
privilege to be living and active members. It 
is under this higher view, especially, that the 
family should be dear to every Christian heart, 
and that both parents and children should 
earnestly strive together to render it pleasant 
and attractive, and capable of exercising upon 
all its inmates an elevating and refining influ- 
ence — a controlling, moulding, and saving 
power ! Within its sacred precincts should be 
found nothing of a degrading, polluting, or 



22 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

demoralizing nature. It should be to the weary- 
wanderer of earth, who seeks shelter and repose 
there, a genuine " Elim," with its " twelve wells 
of water," and its " three-score and ten palm 
trees;" where the weary, way-worn pilgrim 
would instinctively wish to pitch his tent, and, 
as did the Israelites, encamp there. 

Were all our families of such a character we 
would find them exerting a far greater and 
more salutary influence upon the destiny of the 
rising generation, and binding, with far stronger 
and more enduring bonds, our children to the 
dear homes of their -early and comparatively 
innocent years. From the remotest corners of 
the busy world, they would, in after life, look 
lovingly back to the scenes of their childhood, 
still feeling themselves indissolubly bound to 
the dear old homestead, peeping out from 
among waving trees, and fragrant flowers, and 
sweet-scented shrubbery, and earnestly long to 
be once more back to the dear old cottage, or 
splendid palace, and join in acts of solemn 
praise and prayer around the family altar ! 

The dear home of our childhood and early 



the family; or home- life. 23 

youth, with its sweet and blessed scenes of do- 
mestic peace, contentment, and joy, can never 
be wholly forgotten; especially, when that 
home is the residence of pious, Christian pa- 
rents, and of well-trained children; when, in 
short, the family or home-life is characterized 
by the sweet spirit of love and mutual forbear- 
ance, and all its affairs are conducted on strictly 
Christian principles. The impressive force of a 
decidedly pious and consistent life — of parental 
love and fidelity — of genuine brotherly and- sis- 
terly affection — of united prayer and praise — the 
force, in short, of a truly Christian family-life, can 
never be radically effaced from the heart and mind. 
How important is it, therefore, that we clothe 
the home-circle, and all its interesting and ever- 
recurring scenes of beauty and grace, with their 
full and legitimate power for good, by discharg- 
ing all our duties faithfully and earnestly, 
especially, also by instilling into the minds of 
our children, sentiments of piety, founded on 
sound religious principles. Early impressions 
are generally the deepest and most lasting. 
They can never be wholly lost. 



24 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Permit me, by way of illustration, to adduce a 
few deeply interesting and well-authenticated 
facts. In Professor Day's " Historical Recollec- 
tions of Pennsylvania,' ' we are told, that, in con- 
cluding the war with England, it was stipulated, 
on the part of our government, that the chil- 
dren and others, who had been carried away 
captive by the savages, should be returned. 
Carlisle, Pa., was one of the places where these 
captives were brought together; and notice was, 
accordingly, given to all such as had lost children, 
to come and identify them. Among the rest 
came a poor distressed mother, who had lost a 
little boy many years before. She gazed eager- 
ly at the mixed crowd before her, passing her eye 
back and forward, jput could see no one resem- 
bling her own dear child. With a heavy heart 
she turned away ready to give up all in despair, 
when the person in charge of the children, asked 
her whether she had no sign or mark by which 
she could recognize her child. After a moment s 
pause, she said that she used to sing to the 
child a German Hymn, of which it seemed to 
be very fond, beginning thus : 



THE family; oh home-life. 25 

" Allein und doch nicht ganz allein, 
Bin ich in meiner Einsamkeit." 

The gentleman then asked her whether she 
remembered the melody or tune, to which she 
used to sing these words. Being answered in 
the affirmative, he requested her to sing it; 
when, to her utter amazement and joy, a young 
man, in the back part of the house, sprang to 
his feet, came to her, and, tenderly embracing 
her, called her mother ! The echo of that 
sweet song, which, like a vision of beauty, lin- 
gered in his heart, came back to the child with 
resistless power, and brought him to his mo- 
ther's arms. The heart of the poor child may 
have been more than ordinarily impressed, and 
his memory aided by the appropriate sentiment 
of the lines, which may be rendered thus : 
11 Alone, and yet not quite alone, am I in this 
my loneliness." The incident furnishes a strong 
argument in favor of early religious instruc- 
tion, and careful family training, by showing 
the permanent and ineffaceable character of 
these early or first impressions. They consti- 
tute the foundation stones in the future edifice. 
2 



26 GIFT-BOOK FOU THE MILLION. 

Another equally interesting and striking case 
came partly under my own observation. A 
lady member of my church, eighty-four years 
of age, told me, that, when she was a child, 
on the banks of the beautiful Susquehanna, the 
Indians used to come near their home, and 
that her heart was filled with constant fear. 
Once, when her uncle, from one of the lower 
counties, came to their house, she begged to be 
permitted to go with him away from the 
dreaded Indians. She finally received the de- 
sired permission, and accompanied him to his 
home in the vicinity of Philadelphia. She had 
been religiously and very carefully instructed, 
in her early years, having committed many 
passages of Scripture, select Hymns, questions 
from the Catechism, and prayers, all in the Ger- 
man language. In her new home she forgot 
entirely her native tongue ; but never learned 
to read, if my memory serves me right, the 
English language, which she constantly spoke, 
and in which, during her long life, she wor- 
shipped the God of her fathers. When old, and 
almost entirely confined to the house, as she was 



the family; or home-life. 27 

towards the close of her pilgrimage, she sought 
comfort in the religion of the crucified One. But, 
what was most remarkable in her case, was this, 
that she read, and prayed, and meditated, ex- 
clusively, if I mistake not, in the language of 
her childhood — in German ! Her whole inner 
life or religious consciousness appears to have 
moved in the element of this earliest and 
deepest experience. Her child-life became the 
stay of old age — the light of her declining 
years. Can we, then, doubt the far-reaching 
power, and controlling influence of careful fam- 
ily training, and early religious instruction ? 
These early acquisitions of Christian knowledge, 
and incorporation of heavenly powers in the 
human soul, are the moving, moulding, and 
controlling forces, which, in after life, are to 
shape and determine our destiny. Strong, 
indeed, and influential are the links that bind 
us to the sweet home of our childhood and 
youth. 

We wish to introduce, here, without being 
able to acknowledge their source, the following 
exquisite lines; wishing the unknown author 



28 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Heaven's richest blessing for singing to us so 
sweetly of that loveliest and brightest spot on 
earth — Home ! Listen to the sweet musings 
of the happy poet : 

HOME. 
Home I in that word how many hopes are hidden, 

How many hours of joy serene and fair, 
How many golden visions rise unbidden, 

And blend their views into a rainbow there. 

Round home what images of beauty cluster, 
Links which unite the living with the dead, 

Glimpses of most surpassing lustre, 
Echoes of melody whose voice is fled. 

Home is the place where we have ever blended 
Our hopes and happiness, our tears and sighs, 

Whence, our united worship hath ascended, 
As grateful incense to the listening skies ; 

Where we have nourished bright tho'ts while beholding 
Some sun-eyed flower, the centre of our love ; 

And while we watched its gradual unfolding, 
The angels came and carried it above. 

Mankind, however fettered and benighted, 

Howe'er oppressed by penury and care, . 
Have their existence by one beacon lighted, 

Have still one bliss which all may freely share. 

Home ! cries the world-sick wanderer as he wendeth, 

With baffled footsteps, o^er his weary way ; 
Home ! sings the wretched outcast as he sendeth 

A longing look whence once he longed to stray. 



THE family; or home-life. 29 

Home! says the toil-worn rustic when returning 

From daily labor at the fall of night; 
Homo! sings the emancipated soul as, spurning 

This world of woe, it plumes its wings for flight. 

Home ! like the burning lens collects together 

Into one point affection's scattered rays, 
And in the sternest storm, the wildest weather, 

Kindles a bright and spirit-cheering blaze. 

Home is the watch-word firing with emotion 
The patriot's heart, and nerving him. to fight; 

Home is the pole star, o'er the storm-swept ocean 
Guiding the sailor through the stormy night. 

Home is a boon to erring mortals given, 

To knit us closer in the bonds of love, 
To lead our spirits gently up to Heaven, 

To shadow forth the brighter home above I Selected. 



II. THE OMINOUS REQUEST, AND DIVISION OF 
PROPERTY. 

Once the soul, in thought estranged, 

Frets in discontent at home, 
Soon it, then — all things arranged — 

Longs in distant lands to roam! 

The charms of home, and its refined and ex- 
quisite pleasures, in this case, did not wholly 
restrain and prevent absolutely the spirit of 
discontent and wild speculation from arising in 
the heart of the younger son. And no marvel ; 
when once the affections are alienated, and so 
the silken cord, which binds men to the sweet 
and fascinating scenes of home, is broken, and 
the fervor of their early love expended, then in- 
deed the way is fully open for the ingress of 
restless and open discontent, as well as the wish 
to be wholly free and independent, out in the 
wide world. So in the present case. The father 
had, indeed, but two sons to share his boundless 
love, and enjoy with him all the chaste and re- 
fining pleasures of the family circle ; we might 
30 



THE OMINOUS REQUEST. 31 

suppose that under these circumstances there 
would be such fullness of joy ; and such perfect sa- 
tisfaction, that no room could be found for the en- 
trance of any evil thought. Such, however, was 
not the case. Of the two favored sons, the 
younger, we are told, became early dissatisfied, 
meditated his escape from the paternal mansion, 
and soon began making the preparations neces- 
sary to accomplish his cherished purpose. He at 
once addressed himself to his kind and indulgent 
parent, thus: " Father, give me the portion of 
goods that falleth to me," The legal phrase, 
which, in making his request, the discontented 
youth employed, bears an ominous significance. 
It strongly testifies to the unnatural estrange- 
ment and total alienation of feeling which had 
already taken possession of his heart. The sweet 
perfume of his early love and filial affection had 
been utterly dissipated, and, in place of them, we 
have the cold and repulsive spirit of the stranger, 
the slave of lust. Is not this, also, the exact im- I 
age and prototype of that mean and selfish spirit, 
which, at the present day, is so often found to pos- 
sess and animate the hearts, and control the ac- 



32 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

tions of men, — of children, even, and of Church 
members ? How often do we not meet with fami- 
lies, in which formerly the spirit of purest and 
most fervent love prevailed, now utterly despoiled 
of this strong and enduring bond, and smitten as 
with a desolating curse ! In our own age and 
country, especially, do we find this desolating 
spirit of discontent, recklessness, and insubordi- 
nation to parents and superiors, largely in the 
ascendency. In many families, otherwise re- 
spectable, filial love, reverence, and due regard, 
on the part of children, are utterly unknown ; 
while in others only the last lingering remains 
of this filial love — the light and glory of the 
family circle — are to be found. Hence so many 
imitate the fatal example of the Prodigal Son. 
Hence, also, do we have so many distressed and 
heart-broken parents, and such multitudes of 
ruined sons and fallen daughters. 

But here, again, the earthly is to serve only 
as a means of bringing prominently into view 
the spiritual and invisible. The fatal request 
and subsequent departure of the younger son, 
from his home, are but the advance images or 



THE OMINOUS REQUEST. 33 

prophetic intimations of an inward estrange- 
ment of the soul from its chief good, on earth, 
— the house of God and its blessed privileges. 
Here, too, we find the poor soul, in strange and 
discordant sounds, speaking forth the unnatural 
request : " Father, give me the portion of goods 
which falleth to me." And, no sooner is this 
request complied with by the insulted majesty 
of Heaven, than the hapless applicant, like the 
Prodigal Son, " gathers all together/' and takes 
his "journey into a far country"— the land of 
fancied freedom and unrestrained indulgence. 

And what now of these dreamy visions of 
personal freedom, and independence of parental 
authority? What estimate shall we form of 
the Prodigal's early and evident dissatisfaction 
w T ith the existing order of the family — the type 
and prophecy of the Church of God? What 
of his eager desire and rude request to have 
full and unlimited control of his portion of the 
family estate ? Could the separate and inde- 
pendent possession of these " goods" really 
procure him the enlarged pleasures which he so 
fondly anticipated ? Was it at all in the power 
2* 



34 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

of those bright and fairy clouds, which, floating 
so majestically before his distorted vision, had 
promised him a copious shower of dainties, to 
bestow the good things hoped for ? Is it, really, 
in the power of any " good gift," temporal or 
spiritual, to afford us pure and permanent bliss, 
independent of God Himself — the source of all 
life and blessedness ? 

If we are to be governed, in our decision, by 
the teachings of the Divine Word, then we 
must answer decidedly — no ! In such case, we 
must insist that all these fond and fascinating 
hopes are intrinsically vain and delusive — base- 
less and ephemeral as a "morning cloud" and 
as the " early dew," which, with the first touches 
of the rising sun, "goeth away." This dreary, 
heartless selfishness, indeed, which seeks to en- 
joy things — blessings of providence and of 
grace — separate from and independent of God, 
the giver of all good and perfect gifts, is itself 
the very essence of sin and misery ; and cannot, 
in the nature of things, yield us any pure and 
abiding bliss. " Whosoever drinketh of this 
water," the common water of earth, says our 



THE OMINOUS REQUEST. 35 

blessed Saviour, " shall thirst again ; but who- 
soever drinketh of the water that I shall give 
him, shall never thirst; but the water that I 
shall give him, shall be in him a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life." But, as our 
perennial springs and wells, in nature, are such, 
only, because they stand in real, living commu- 
nication with the great ocean, the universal 
reservoir of water, so this welling up of eternal 
life, in the soul of man, is possible only in case 
of its real and living communion with God, the 
universal source of all spiritual life and salvation. 

Why, then, it may be asked, did the good 
father, in the Parable, yield to the foolish wishes 
of his reckless and indiscreet son ? Why did 
he grant him his fatal and apparently unnatu- 
ral request ? Why not positively refuse to 
make the fatal division of property, as requested 
by the discontented heir ? And why does God 
Himself — represented by this earthly father — 
now, also, divide His " living" among His un- 
wise and heedless children ? 

The reason, we think, is obvious. Man is 
utially a free agent; and his destiny, both 



36 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

here and hereafter, depends largely upon him- 
self — upon his personal character — upon what 
he becomes by his own efforts, either in the 
proper use, or in the abuse of the Divine gifts, 
in the improvement or neglect of divinely 
ordained means and instrumentalities. Happi- 
ness, therefore, can be enjoyed only and 
exclusively on the ground of a personally good 
and holy character, acquired in the way of God's 
appointment. " This is the record," says St. 
John, " that God hath given to us eternal life ; 
and this life is in His Son." 

how foolish and hazardous is it, then, to 
seek independence of God — to desire the pos- 
session of our portion of the Divine gifts 
separate from Himself, the source and fountain 
of all good ! How ungrateful, at the same 
time, is such a request or desire ! God does, 
indeed, commit to our own hands the rich gifts 
of His grace and Spirit, and requires us to use 
them for our spiritual and eternal welfare ; but 
they are after all to be used only in constant 
and felt communion with Himself. Any desire 
to be independent of God, and enjoy His gifts 



THE OMINOUS BEQUEST. 37 

Beparaie from His Person and His kingdom, the 
blessed communion of the saints, is an insult 
offered to the majesty of Heaven ! Far other- 
wise felt and acted the saints of old — those 
heroes of faith. Listen to the sweet words of 
David : " One thing have I desired of the Lord, 
that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the 
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to 
behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire 
in His temple. For in the time of trouble He 
shall hide i$e in His pavilion : In the secret of 
His tabernacle shall He hide me ; He shall set 
me up upon a rock." 

Contrast, now, with these beautiful words of 
the Psalmist, the heartless and supremely sel- 
fish request of the younger son : " Father, give 
me the portion of goods that falleth to me." A 
most unfortunate and fatal demand this ! We 
experience a feeling of sadness and secret 
sorrow, instinctively springing up in our bosom, 
as we read these ing-rate and ominous words of 
the Prodigal. They awaken in us a kind of 
dark and dreamy presentiment of that coming 
moral desolation, in the case of the younger son, 



38 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

which, for a long while, left his erring soul 
as barren and unfruitful as the mountains of 
Gilboa, where there was neither " dew" nor 
" rain" — the sad state of one " having no hope, 
and without God in the world." And why so 
God-forsaken ? 

Why will ye lavish out your years 
Amidst a thousand trifling cares, 
While, in this various range of thought, 
The one thing needful is forgot? 

Why will ye chase the fleeting wind, 
And famish an immortal mind, 
While angels with regret look down, 
To see you spurn a heav'nly crown ? 

Not so your dying eyes shall view 
Those objects which you now pursue ; 
Not so shall heav'n and hell appear, 
When the decisive hour is near ! 



III. THE DEPARTURE J OR, AWAY INTO THE FAR 
COUNTRY. 

■ For he, not yet, had felt the pain 

That rankles in the wounded breast ; 
He waked to sin, then slept aejain, 
Forsook his God, yet took his rest." 

The younger son boldly advanced his claim, 
on the father, for a division of property ; and, 
accordingly, "he divided unto them his living" 
— that is to say, the family estate or patrimony 
was equitably divided between the two sons, 
the legal heirs of the coveted wealth or accu- 
mulated property. And this, then, was the 
signal for another and a more serious and 
unfortunate step in the downward history of the 
Prodigal. He now had everything in his own 
hands, and hastily made the necessary prepara- 
tions for his contemplated journey, as he felt 
himself no longer art home in the paternal 
mansion. Hence the record : " And not many 
days after the younger son gathered all 
together, and took his journey into a far 

39 



40 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

country." Every word and phrase of this terse 
and pregnant sentence is full of solemn import 
and far-reaching significance. The expression, 
" not many days after/' points unmistakably to 
his unnatural haste and earnest solicitude to 
get away, as soon as possible, from the home of 
his childhood and early youth, and from under 
the restraining power and influence of parental 
love and authority. His interest in the family 
and its loved scenes, was already, apparently at 
least, wholly abated, and his attachment to 
home and home-life effectually broken. Hence, 
the sooner he gets away from the venerable 
homestead the better for him, and the more 
agreeable to his altered feelings. And so, also, 
the further he can go — even to the remotest 
bounds of earth — the safer he feels himself 
from the restraining and now harassing influ- 
ence of home scenes and home-life. And is not 
this, also, precisely the course, so invariably 
pursued by the restless, sinner of the present 
day, when once the gracious and heart-felt 
presence of God, and the restraining, and, in his 
case, irritating influences of the spiritual home, 



THE DEPARTURE. 41 

the Church of Christ, become painfully burden- 
some to him ? In his eagerness to get away 
from home, he " gathers all together," and then 
hastily takes his leave of the peaceful palaces 
and quiet retreats of God's house, and so hurries 
away off into a far country, where he is entirely 
unknown, and perfectly free to do just as he 
pleases. So, at least, the unfortunate one 
imagines himself to be ; and revels in this sad 
delusion until he eventually comes to himself, 
and sees things aright again in the purer and 
fuller light of the unseen and eternal world. 
how many victims of this fatal delusion are 
to be found in almost every community ! What 
vast multitudes of deluded souls, estranged 
from God and His Church, are busily dreaming 
of a pleasant, free, and boundless range over 
fragrant hills, and flowery meads, and pebbled 
seas of pure, sweet, unmingled bliss, away out 
in the dim distance, while, in fact, Satan is 
holding them captive and spell-bound under a 
fit of the most fatal delusion ! 

Well might the compassionate Redeemer say 
even to His chosen and well-trained disciples : 



42 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

" Watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempta- 
tion : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
is weak." Only in a ready and cheerful com- 
pliance with this solemn injunction can we hope 
to escape spiritual shipwreck. 

Everywhere, and ; under the most favorable 
circumstances, there is danger for the poor 
pilgrim of Earth ; but especially so, when, like 
the insulted and pouting Cain, he goes out 
"from the presence of the Lord/' and makes 
his home among distant and unfeeling strangers. 
If, in the very presence chamber of the Almighty, 
and, as it were, under the very shadow of His 
wings, there is danger of sinning against the 
Divine majesty, how much more are we in 
danger of sinning, when away in the "land of 
Nod, east of Eden." And this circumstance 
should not only affect the young and inexpe- 
rienced, and put them on their guard ; but it 
should, also, admonish Christian parents to 
make home as pleasant and attractive as possi- 
ble to their dear children, so that they might 
feel no inclination to abandon it, and exchange 
its sweet and refining pleasures for the foul and 



THE DEPARTURE. 43 

xading scones of dissipation and revelry 
abroad. And, besides this, tlio dangers of 
youth, when abroad, and their frequent want 
of sympathy, when in circumstances, where a 
little fellow-feeling and generous aid, and kind- 
ly interest in their behalf, might save them from 
dissipation, temptation, and ruin, loudly call for 
proper care and solicitude, on the part of Chris- 
tian parents, in favor of the friendless and lone- 
ly stranger. Their own dear children may, in 
the end, be gainers by such assistance, extended 
to the lowly and indigent wanderer out in the 
" wide, wide world." 

To illustrate my meaning and give point and 
application to the preceding remarks, I shall in- 
troduce here, an incident which was related to 
me by the late Rev. Richard A. Fisher, of 
blessed memory, as having occurred within the 
bounds of his pastoral charge. Many years ago, 
when there was as yet no Rail-road communica- 
tion with the great West, a family from one of 
the eastern counties of Pennsylvania started for 
one of the Western States, as was then custom- 
ary, with a wagon, containing the members of 



44 GIFT BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

the household, the little furniture which could be 
taken along, and such provisions and feed as were 
thought to be necessary for the journey. When 
they had proceeded on their pilgrimage as far 
as Shamokin Valley, in Northumberland county, 
some of the party were taken down with sickness, 
and their progress was arrested. In the mean- 
time their little stock of provisions had become 
well-nigh exhausted, and their prospects assumed 
a gloomy and threatening aspect. When they 
were about ready to start, the gentleman, who, 
up to this time, had carefully shut up his sorrow 
in his own heart, called on a farmer, and stated 
to him frankly his destitute condition, and 
respectfully craved his kindly interposition. 
The farmer, satisfied with the honesty of the 
man's representation, requested his family to 
contribute whatever of bread and other provi- 
sions they could spare for the relief of the 
indigent stranger. With a glad heart and a 
bosom heaving with sentiments of warmest 
gratitude towards the noble and generous- 
hearted benefactor, the now re-enforced traveller 
started on his long and tedious journey over 



THE DEPARTURE. 45 

hill and dale, and rivers and mountains, in the 
direction of his future home, in the great West. 
After reaching his chosen spot, and living there 
many years, he heard of a young man, a 
stranger, travelling in that section of country, 
laid up with sickness. Naturally reminded of 
his own desolate condition, when, in similar 
circumstances, he too was among strangers, he 
called to see the young man. On inquiry he 
found that he was from Eastern Pennsylvania 
— from Northumberland County — from Shamo- 
kin Valley. As these names were successively 
mentioned in answer to his inquiries, his heart 
leaped within him ; and he yet once more in- 
quired what was the name of the stranger before 
him, when, to his utter surprise, he learned that 
the lonely sufferer was the son of the very 
person, who, many years before, had relieved 
him, when on his way westward. 

On making this discovery the grateful man 
at once took the youth to his own house, after 
telling him of the kindness of his distant father, 
and cared for him kindly and assiduously until 
he was fully restored, and ready to enter again 



46 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

on his journey. Here, truly, was bread, having 
been cast upon the waters, found after " many 
days," according to the Divine assurance. 
Hospitality brought its rich reward. " Be not 
forgetful to entertain strangers," says St. Paul, 
"for thereby some have entertained angels 
unawares." 

But, while we thus earnestly and most cheer- 
fully bespeak for poor wanderers, universally, 
the pity and compassion of men, we must not 
forget, that, in treating of the genuine Prodigal, 
the wanderer from Gods house and its blessed 
privileges, it becomes us, first of all, to sound 
the alarm, and, thus, call back again the erring 
one to the paths of righteousness and peace. 
Our sympathy with the poor sinner, in his exile, 
must not cause us to forget our duty to God, 
whose house the wretched wanderer has volun- 
tarily forsaken. And who is this wanderer, 
whom we have hastily traced from the quiet and 
peaceful palaces in the father's house, away out 
into the wild woods and barren deserts of the 
world? It is you, the reader of these lines, 
possibly. If so, then you are affectionately 



THE DErARTURE. 47 

called back to your forsaken God, and to the 
sweet and blissful ways of His commandments. 
It is you who are asked to come from among the 
barren hills and sandy plains — the moral deso- 
lations of this present evil world, and enter 
upon the sweet and fragrant fields of the church 
— the blessed kingdom of God ! 

How solemn and soul-stirring is the call of 
the good Shepherd ! a Come unto me, all ye 
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn 
of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and 
ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my 
yoke is easy and my burden is light." Listen 
to the sweet and blessed call of mercy ! 

Return, O wanderer, return, 

And seek an injured Father's face ; 
Those warm desires that in thee burn, 

Were kindled by reclaiming grace. 

Return, O wanderer, return, 

And seek a Father's melting heart; 
His pitying eyes thy grief discern, 

His hand shall heal thine inward smart. 

Return, O wanderer, return, 

Thy Saviour bids thy spirit live, 
Go to His bleeding feet, and learn, 

How freely Jesus can forgive. 



48 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Return, O wanderer, return, 
And wipe away the falling tear; 
Tis God who says, " no longer mourn," 
' Tis mercy's voice invites thee near. 



IV. THE DISSIPATION, OR WASTING OF GOODS. 

" We give our souls the wounds they feel, 
We drink the pois'nous gall; 
And rush with fury down to hell, 
But grace prevents the fall." 

"And there he wasted his substance in 
riotous living." Here we have another fine and 
delicate touch of the Master's pencil. So 
perfectly natural and true to life, are these 
words of the Parable, that they set forth, as 
with a single stroke of the pen, the terrible 
consequences of this hasty and injudicious 
departure from the paternal mansion, and from 
under the salutary influences of hearth and 
home life. " He wasted his substance." How 
natural, and yet how overwhelmingly solemn 
and affecting! He "wasted" — that is, squan- 
dered them away in "riotous living" — in 
sensual indulgence. What a sad picture ! The 
once happy son, the pride of his honored father, 
and a mother's joy, surrounded with every 
comfort that parental love and devotion could 
3 49 



50 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

render — happy, unspeakably happy, too, in a 
brother's deathless affection, is now found far 
away among the poor and wretched outcasts of 
earth, the despised and utterly abhorred among 
the sons of men ! But all this,* again, is only 
the faint and imperfect image of a far sadder 
and more desperately -hopeless spiritual state. 
The sinner, indeed, wastes his " substance" — his 
spiritual endowments — in a far higher and 
weightier sense, revelling in sin, and effectually 
extinguishing in his bosom every nobler and 
better sentiment. And who, now, cares for the 
wretched outcast? He is left to weep alone, 
and unpitied in his state of utter, hopeless, 
cheerless, desolation. 

Some twenty years ago I was called upon to 
perform the sad funeral obsequies over the grave 
of an unfortunate prodigal who had breathed 
his last in a prison cell, " unwept and unsung." 
He was the son of pious parents ; had no doubt 
been religiously raised and trained, and might 
have been honored and respected. But, like so 
many others, he frequented bad company; 
became intemperate in his habits ; indulged in 



THE DISSIPATION. 51 

petty larceny ; was arrested, convicted, and im- 
prisoned. Here ; while suffering the penalty of 
the law, he fell sick and died. None, except a 
few of the prison officers and myself, attended 
his funeral. Even an only sister, yet living in 
the place, refused to come near. Sadly and 
silently we carried the poor fellow to his long 
home and lowered his body into the grave, over 
which the funeral service was tremblingly read. 
All was stern, cold, and silent as the grave itself. 
Not a tear was shed. Not the slightest sign of 
emotion, or sorrow, or regret, was to be seen on 
the frigid countenances of those present. Amid 
the most solemn silence and hopeless reserve we 
lowered the poor man's corpse into the grave, 
and committed his soul to the mercy of God. 
In a most charming spot on the banks of the 
beautiful Susquehanna sleeps the poor outcast 
in his lonely and flowerless grave, over which 
probably no tear has ever been shed. Surely, 
"the way of the transgressor is hard." 

And, now, may I be permitted to say a few 
words directly to you, whether young or old, 
who are possibly living in the same riotous way ; 



52 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

or, if not already on the high-way to ruin, you 
are at least in great danger of getting out upon 
the broad and beaten road " which leadeth to 
destruction." You have perhaps, like the Prodi- 
gal Son, had beautiful and comfortable homes ; 
but, like him, you were not contented there, and 
so you ventured out into the wide and treache- 
rous world. Since you are away from home, 
and free from home influences, you forget the 
law of life and love, and follow in the wake of 
sinners. Do you know how much you are in 
danger ? Look at the vast numbers of young 
men and young women that leave their 
comfortable homes in search of a fortune abroad, 
and see how few of them are able to stem the 
strong tide of worldly and demoralizing influ- 
ences which they have to encounter. Very soon 
many are found in. the places of public and 
fashionable resort ; others in loathsome tippling 
houses, and around the card table : others in 
the company of scoffers ; while others, not a few, 
are found in places whose very infamy forbids 
their mention. Your danger is imminent and 
appalling. " Wherefore, take unto you the 



THE DISSIPATION. 53 

whole armor" — panoply — " of God, that ye may 
be able to withstand in the evil day." 

That I may not Be thought wild and extrava- 
gant in my apprehensions of the danger which 
threatens the tender and inexperienced youth, 
whose lot may be cast among unfeeling strangers, 
let me briefly call your attention to a few inter- 
esting and well-known facts. 

And, first, let me remind you of the impor- 
tant and ominous fact, that, in our day, and in 
our own country, especially, few young men and 
young women are sufficiently familiar with the 
doctrines and precepts of our holy religion to 
meet successfully the cavils of the world. The 
land is full of rank, bold, and unscrupulous 
infidels, who, in their intercourse with the young 
and inexperienced, are always ready to obtrude 
their skeptical principles upon the attention of 
the unsuspecting and unwary youth. They 
know very well, that, here, if anywhere, they 
can make an impression, and thus silently, and 
unsuspected, inculcate their evil and demorali- 
zing principles. 

And what makes this view of the matter still 



54 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

more serious and important, is, that, owing to 
this very defect in the prevailing system of 
religious training of the young, they are not 
sufficiently fortified morally and spiritually to 
resist the seductive power of the wicked world. 
Where there is a strong and well-matured 
religious character for the young man or young 
lady to fall back upon, when thus tempted and 
tried, the case is quite different. In such 
circumstances they are likely to escape un- 
harmed, God being their "sun and shield." 
But, in the case of the young, generally, we are 
bound to assume, that, in this essential element . 
of safety, they are very seriously defective; 
and, therefore, need to be especially admonished, 
and put on their guard. 

Even with the utmost care, however, there 
is great danger ; and countless multitudes, who 
have gone out into the wide world with far less 
questionable preparation than "the younger 
son," have made shipwreck of their "faith," 
and of their souls. They had not the power, 
in themselves, to resist the temptations which . 
they were called to encounter, nor had they any 



THE DISSIPATION. 55 

friendly power at their side, to encourage them 
in the conflict, and help them on to victory and 
a crown. They were, in short, unsupported by 
the power of a divine faith, and, hence, foiled 
in the conflict- of life. Christ only is our 
strength, and the source of victory to the 
tempted and tried soul. " For* whatsoever is 
born of God overcometh the world ; and this is 
the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, 
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son 
of God ? " 

Here, precisely, lies the hope of the world — 
the hope of safety and success. " The name of 
Jehovah is a strong tower/' says Solomon, " the 
righteous runneth into it, and is safe." But, 
alas, how few have power to acknowledge this 
strong and impregnable tower — the name of 
Jehovah Jtfsus — or feel inclined to run into it 
for safety and shelter in the hour of temptation ! 
To most men, and women, too, the siren voice 
of sin is- sweet as music, and as enticing as 
angels' food. It requires no special efforts, on 
the part of the world, to draw them aside, and 



56 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION.- 

allure them into the forbidden paths of sin and 
folly. The merest hint, in the direction of sin, 
is sufficient to put them on the track, and engage 
them in the service of the wicked one. And, 
0, how many unfortunate ones — sons and daugh- 
ters often of pious and earnest Christian parents 
— are out in the wide world at this very hour, 
while heart-broken fathers, and mothers, and 
brothers, and sisters, at home, are bitterly be- 
wailing the erratic course of the darling ones 
at a distance, rapidly " wasting their substance 
in riotous living," and utterly unmindful of 
themselves, or of their weeping friends ! 

To you, ye wanderers in the dreary wilds 
of the world, surrounded by innumerable perils, 
and tempted to sin in ten thousand different 
ways, — to you, the dear children of weeping 
parents and sorrowing brothers and sisters, at 
home, we would sound forth, in sweetest tones, 
the kind and tender invitation of the merciful 
Saviour : " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden ; and I will give you rest." 
And, then, turning away from this to the Church 
herself — the spiritual home from which many 



THE DISSIPATION. 57 

of these poor wanderers have gone out into the 
wide world, because they found not sufficient 
spiritual power and bliss at home, to bind them 
to its peaceful palaces, its precious Word of Life, 
its ordinances of salvation, its sweet communion, 
and its blessed worship, — we would speak, as 
with the voice of a trumpet, that other compas- 
sionate word of our Lord, so full of tender 
sympathy and sacred sorrow : "0 Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets," the 
preachers of a living Gospel — "and stonest 
them that are sent unto thee, how often would 
I have gathered thy children together, even as 
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not ! Behold, your house is left 
unto you desolate." 

For this reason, faithless people of God, — 
for this criminal reason have so many of your 
sons and daughters gone out into the uncove- 
nanted world — have " gathered all together," 
and taken their " journey into a far country," 
and " there wasted" their " substance with riot- 
ous living." Go ye, also, to the feet of Jesus, 
and there confess your short-comings, with deep 

3* 



58 GIFT-BOOK FOE, THE MILLION. 

penitence and heart-felt contrition ! Go, seek 
forgiveness in the Divine compassion, making, 
each one, humble confession to your forsaken 
God and Saviour. Responding to this solemn 
call, you have the poet's beautiful words of min- 
gled penitence and faith, put into your quiver- 
ing lips : — 

My crimes are great, but can't surpass 
The pow'r and glory of Thy grace ; 
Great God, Thy nature hath no bound, 
So let Thy pard'ning love be found. 

- My lips with shame my sins confess 
Against Thy law, against Thy grace 
Lord, should Thy judgment grow severe, 
I am condemned, but Thou art clear. 

Should sudden vengeance seize my breath, 
I must pronounce Thee just in death ; 
And, if my soul were sent to hell, 
Thy righteous law approves it well. 

Yet, save a trembling sinner, Lord, 
Whose hope, still hov'ring round Thy word, 
Would light on some sweet promise there, 
Some sure support against despair. 



V. THE FAMINE, AND ITS PRESSURE. 

" My soul, with various tempests tossed, 
Her hopes o'erturned, her projects cross'd, 
Sees every day new straits attend, 
And wonders where the scene will end." 

The distance between affluence and want is 
very small and easily passed over. In our own 
day, especially, we have had abundant opportu- 
nities of seeing the fickleness of fortune and the 
suddenness of the changes from one extreme in 
human society to another. In every depart- 
ment of business, and among every class of cit- 
izens, we have witnessed instances of this un- 
certainty in temporal affairs. So numerous 
have been the failures, among business men, 
and so unexpected, in many cases, have been 
the sudden reverses of fortune, that we have 
naturally come to regard the condition of every 
business man as more or le^s insecure. Such, 
alas, was the sad experience of the Prodigal Son. 
He went out from home, and entered the busy 
world with an ample fortune, as we may well 

59 



60 GIFT-BOOK FOE THE MILLION. 

suppose, and had every prospect of getting 
along smoothly and prosperously in the world. 
But, alas, his flattering prospects were soon 
disappointed, and all his fond and cherished 
hopes blasted. Even in a temporal point of 
view, the experience of the Prodigal might be 
very profitably studied. We, in this age of 
wild and unscrupulous speculation, need the 
force and influence of every instance of such 
experience as that now under consideration. 

The picture, however, is intended mainly, if 
not exclusively, to bring before us the uncer- 
tainty of our spiritual interests, and the ease 
and suddenness with which fatal reverses often 
take place in the kingdom of grace. The ship- 
wreck, which the Prodigal experienced, is 
intended to teach us not to be high-minded, 
nor to despise and disregard the spiritual 
enemies by whom we are surrounded. And 
are we not able to call up many sad instances 
of persons, eminent for piety, and honored for 
their strength of character, who were suddenly 
and unexpectedly overwhelmed with temptation, 
and precipitated into sin ? And no sooner do 



THE FAMINE. 61 

men now-a-days, as well as in the time of the 
Prodigal, get away from the Church of God 
and her blessed worship, than their spiritual 
resources begin to fail them, and, even before 
they are fully aware of their downward course, 
there is felt the painful pressure of spiritual pov- 
erty — a famine in divine things. How can it be 
otherwise when the soul is essentially spiritual 
and made for communion with God ? 

Such was the experience of the Prodigal. 
He, no doubt, was very lavish with his " goods," 
deeming the supply inexhaustible. He had no 
idea that these could ever wholly fail, and 
hence he "wasted his substance in riotous 
living ; " and only by and by did he become 
conscious that his stores were exhausted ; and, 
thus, " when he had spent all," the truth prob- 
ably for the first time flashed upon his mind, 
and made him conscious of his error, and the 
perilous nature of his situation. And as he 
looked around him for relief, and hoped to 
better his condition by a different course of 
conduct ; he found to his utter amazement, that, 
in every' direction, want and suffering stared 



62 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

him in the face. To his confusion he found, 
that, just at that most critical moment, in his 
history, when he needed the advantages afforded 
by a state of public and general prosperity, 
" there arose a mighty famine in that land." 

And is not this the experience of all men uni- 
versally ? At the very time when they discover 
their own spiritual need, and begin to look 
around them for help from abroad, they unex- 
pectedly find that the world universally, as it 
now stands, is alike poverty-stricken — spiritu- 
ally bankrupt. The general and wide-spread 
desolation around the poor wanderer, only 
serves to make his own case the more appalling. 
He sees himself to be a poor, helpless, miserable 
sinner; and every effort to seek relief in the 
world of sense around him, precipitates him 
only the more hopelessly into the deep and 
yawning abyss that opens up beneath his feet. 
Look where he will, and as long and earnestly 
as he pleases, yet, for all that, he finds himself 
alone and utterly forsaken ; not alone as regards 
companions in his misery-, but alone in that he 
finds no help, seeing that all are alike in need. 



THE FAMINE. 63 

And, now, when the Prodigal had made this 
discovery of the mighty famine without, as well 
as the pressing need within, he " began to be 
in want." The stern fact of his spiritual 
poverty now stared him full in the face. He 
saw his truly needy and dependent condition, 
as he had never seen it before. As a traveller 
in the desert, surrounded on every side by fields 
of burning sand, may feel perfectly easy, and 
without the least apprehension of danger, while 
his reserved stores of water remain unex- 
hausted; so the poor sinner, surrounded by 
wide-spread moral desolation, may also feel easy 
and unconcerned, while his original endowments 
— his spiritual stores — remain unexpended. 
When, however, once the gathered stores begin 
to fail, when the vessels are emptied, one by one, 
and the last draught is being taken, then, 
looking around upon the limitless plains of 
burning sand, and seeing no way of supply, the 
terrible reality of water- want flashes resist- 
y upon the mind; and the incipient want 
or call for water at once rises to the point of a 
burning, gnawing, torturing thirst. This was 



64 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

the case with the Prodigal. The first glimpse 
he had of his own exhausted supplies, caused 
him to look around for relief; but, finding him- 
self in the midst of a universal famine, he 
" began to be in want" — began to realize his 
deplorable condition. 

The first effectual step in the way of a cure 
is the cigar discovery and full consciousness of 
our disease and the necessity for help. It 
proved so in the case of the Prodigal, as we 
shall see; and it will prove so in our case, also, 
if we obtain this knowledge of ourselves and of 
our spiritual wants by the aid of God's Spirit. 
Enlightened by the Comforter — the Holy Ghost 
— we will not fail to seek, in deep and heart- 
felt penitence and lively faith, the mercy of 
God. And we have the blessed assurance that 
"they that seek shall find;" and, that, to 
"them that knock, it shall be opened." 

Ye dying sons of men, 

Immerg'd in sin and woe, 
The Gospel's voice attend, 

While Jesus sends to you : 
Ye perishing and guilty come, 
In Jesus' arms there yet is room. 



THE FAMINE. 65 

No longer now delay, 

Nor vain excuses frame; 
He bids you come to-day, 

Tho' poor, and blind, and lame : 
All things are ready — sinners come, 
For ev'ry trembling soul there's room. 

Compell'd by bleeding love, 

Ye wandering sheep draw near ; 
Christ calls you from above, 

His charming accents hear : 
Let whosoever will now come, 
In mercy's breast there still is room. 



4 Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; 
For why will ye die, O house of Israel ?" 



VI. THE UNNATUKAL ALLIANCE. 

" My watchful enemies combine 

To tempt my feet astray ; 
They flatter with a base design, 
To make my soul their prey." 

The stubborn and perverse refusal to ac- 
knowledge lawful and legitimate authority, not 
unfrequently leads to the strange inconsistency 
of acknowledging that which is a bold, impu- 
dent, and illegal usurpation. The fact itself is 
strange enough, surely, and may lead to profita- 
ble reflection on the strange perverseness of the 
human heart. The very existence of such a 
fact in the history of our race, should be suffi- 
cient to establish, in the view of all reasonable 
men, the doctrine of human depravity — of 
apostasy from God ! 

A most striking and singularly instructive 
instance of this kind is furnished by the exam- 
ple of the Prodigal Son. He was uneasy and 
discontented under the mild and genial sway 
of a father's authority, as represented here in 
66 



THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. 67 

order to set forth a supposed or supposable real 
case in the kingdom of God. The human pic- 
ture of despised and rejected authority, within 
the range of the present world, is of sufficient 
interest to claim our earnest and serious atten- 
tion. For, after all, the ready and loving ac- 
knowledgment of an earthly authority is closely, 
and, indeed, essentially connected with the 
higher obedience which we owe to the authority 
of Heaven. Where the one is deliberately and 
persistently refused, there the other will not be 
likely to find very much favor. A cheerful ac- 
knowledgment of parental authority, especially, 
is of the utmost importance towards securing 
obedience to the authority of Him who is the 
common " Father of all them that are called 
children in heaven and on earth." Hence the 
fitness of the earthly family and its own distinc- 
tive relations to set forth the Divine Economy 
and its several higher and holier relations. 

The case of the Prodigal, then, illustrates a 
principle of universal significance and applica- 
tion. He, who could not brook the idea of 
being subject to the easy control of a kind and 



68 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

indulgent father, readily contracted an alliance 
with a foreigner, and, as the event proved, with 
a heartless despot. In this singular instance of 
human perversity, viewing it simply in the light 
of the present world, we have an apt and telling 
illustration of human conduct in ten thousand 
separate instances occurring almost daily, and 
in every possible connection. And the fatal 
consequences of this wide-spread insubordina- 
tion to parents and superiors, generally, are 
seen in every direction. How many a tender 
youth of great promise, excellent opportunities, 
and giving every indication of future eminence 
and usefulness, has by his discontent at home, 
and his eagerness to get out into the wide world, 
brought ruin upon himself, and sorrow upon his 
parents and kindred. 

But the chief importance of this item in the 
history of the Prodigal Son lies in the fact that 
it sets forth in the most striking and impressive 
manner, the spiritual estrangement and folly 
of man in becoming restive under the mild and 
gentle authority of our Heavenly Father, and, 
then, after madly throwing off this legitimate 



THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. G9 

authority, heedlessly putting himself under the 
usurped authority and fatally oppressive power 
of a cruel tyrant. And, 0, how sad is it to 
think that there are multitudes in every com- 
munity, who, refusing homage and submission 
to the authority of Heaven, readily submit 
themselves, in soul and body, to the powers of 
hell; refusing to recognize God as their lawful 
sovereign, they become the willing subjects of 
Satan — the Prince of darkness! " And he went 
and joined himself to a citizen of that country. " 
This phraseology intimates that the Prodigal 
put himself to special inconvenience to enter 
into this strange and unnatural alliance with 
one of the chief men of that distant country, 
to which he had unfortunately strayed. He 
"went" and sought the alliance. Alas, for the 
numberless cases of a similar nature continually 
occurring in the history of our fallen race! 
Slaves of lust — slaves of brutal passion — slaves 
of self, and slaves of the prince of selfishness, 
they are willing to become ; but servants of God 
they cannot become — this would be servitude — 
intolerable servitude ! 



70 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

After what we have already said in reference 
to the subjection of the unfortunate Prodigal to 
a foreign power, it will not be difficult for us to 
believe what immediately follows in the narra- 
tive: "And he sent him into his fields to feed 
swine." To a Jew, whom we must recognize in 
the subject of the Parable, nothing could be 
more humiliating or insulting, even, than to be 
engaged in such an employment — absolutely 
abhorred among the Israelites. But it was 
precisely that which might reasonably be 
expected in the circumstances. And what a 
sad and appalling picture is here presented of 
the deep degradation to which the sinner stoops, 
or rather is forced to stoop, under his foreign 
master. Look abroad in any community, and 
see how many and how various are the ways in 
which Satan disgraces his self-enslaved subjects ! 

Look, for example, at the basely dishonest 
and unscrupulous business man, who, in the 
prosecution of an otherwise lawful traffic, seeks 
only his own aggrandizement, and, in the spirit 
of this low and unworthy object, bows to the 
idol of his heart, and zealously worships the 



THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. 71 

" golden calf." Or take the poor miser, whose 
very name testifies to his "misery," and see to 
what depths of degradation he will condescend 
in the gratification of his low and groveling 
passion! It would be degrading to human 
nature simply to recount the mean and disrepu- 
table stories told of some of these wretched 
beings. Look at the gay and light-hearted 
votaries of pleasure, whose strong passion for 
popular amusements will cause them to spend 
whole nights in the giddy mazes of the dance, 
or in witnessing low theatrical performances, or 
in feasting and play. See the professional 
gambler, how ready he is to sit down among 
and mingle with the lowest and filthiest of our 
fallen race, and, amid the fumes of whiskey 
and of tobacco, spend the golden hours which 
should be sacredly devoted to sleep and rest! 
Or, finally, take the drunkard, who is hope- 
lessly wedded to his cup, and gladly pays out 
the last shilling he has in the world to gratify 
a vicious and depraved appetite, and secure 
the coveted stimulant. See how freely he 
sacrifices his own comfort, property, honor, and 



72 GIFT-BOOK FOB. THE MILLION. 

life; and, leaping over all bounds, reduces to 
wretchedness, want, and endless disgrace even 
the innocent members of his family — the wife 
of his bosom, and the prattling babe that 
clings to her aching breast ! And what does 
the miserable inebriate receive, in return, at 
the hands of those heartless creatures, who, in 
the service of Satan, have reduced him to 
poverty and disgrace? Absolutely nothing, 
except it be that he is heartily detested by 
them, and soundly abused, or possibly kicked 
out of the very house in which his money was 
spent and his character sacrificed ! 

But why should we deal only with these 
special cases, when every form of sin is notori- 
ously degrading ! The very thought of prosti- 
tuting the immortal mind to the service of the 
devil is abhorrent to our better feelings. And 
then, too, the endless and unutterable wretched- 
ness, which, in the eternal world, is entailed 
upon the sinner, the bond-slave of Satan. Who 
can picture to himself, or paint for the benefit 
of others, the horrors of that world of woe, 
" where their worm dieth not, and w r here their 



THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. 73 

fire is not quenched ! " — Alas ! pen and pencil 
are alike powerless, and fail to draw an 
adequate picture of the inexpressible anguish 
and unutterable torments of the damned. The 
adorable Kedeemer Himself faltered when He 
came to the mighty task, and only asked: 
11 What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain 
the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or 
what shall a man give in exchange for his 
soul?" 

Pause then, dear reader, pause long and 
earnestly before you bind yourself in a cove- 
nant of malediction to the accursed prince of 
darkness. Flee from the wicked tempter, and 
seek shelter and protection beneath the bloody 
cross and the outstretched arms of Jehovah 
Jesus! He speaks to you in the sweet, soft, 
tender accents of redeeming mercy, saying: 
"Gome unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
Among these "all" that are so lovingly invited 
to His presence, you, even you, my reader, 
are also included! Then hasten to the Re- 
fuge 



74 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Draw nigh to the Holy, 

Bend low at His throne ; 
There, penitent, lowly, 

Thy sinfulness own. 
There, there, if thou yearnest 

For pardon and rest, 
There, fervent and earnest, 

Prefer thy request. 

Confess thy backsliding, 

Thy weakness and fears ; 
In Jesus confiding, 

There pour out thy tears : 
Think not He will scorn thee, 

Though wretched thy case; 
His hand will adorn thee 

With garments of grace. 

More precious than treasure, 

More vast than the sea, 
His love has no measure 

Nor limit to thee. 
His easy yoke wearing, 

His pleasure abide ; 
In all thy cross-bearing, 

He'll walk by thy side. 

Fear not the wild clangor 

That Satan may raise, 
4 So God's righteous anger 

But pass from thy ways. 
Whom Christ has forgiven 

Goes safely along, 
Till in the high heaven 

He sings the new song. 



THE UNNATURAL ALLIANCE. 75 

Then kneel to the Holy, 

Bend low at His throne; 
There, penitent, lowly, 

Thy sinfulness own : 
There, Soul ! if thou yearnest 

For pardon and rest, 
There, fervent and earnest, 

Prefer thy request. 

— Thos. MaoKellab. 



"Clad in the armor from above, 
Of heav'nly truth, and heav'nly love ; 
Come now, my soul, the charm repel, 
And pow'rs of earth, and pow'r9'of hell." 



VII. THE PAINFUL EXTREMITY, OR UTTER 
• DESTITUTION. 

" "When lowest sunk with grief and shame, 
Filled with affliction's bitter cup, 
Lost to relations, friends, and fame," 
Thy pow'rful hand can raise us up." 

One of the most touching and mournfully 
unique pictures that ever pen or pencil drew, is 
this of the Prodigal Son in the bitterness of his 
self-imposed and galling servitude. Freedom 
from restraint and full liberty to do just as he 
pleased, was what he contemplated by his 
"journey into a far country." His youthful 
and ardent spirit yearned for a wider range 
and freer play ; and, in the fond hope of finding 
this fancied blessing, he abandoned home and 
all its sweet and cherished endearments, and 
ventured out cautiously, at first, by way of 
experiment, upon the great sea of life. His 
earlier experience, abroad, may possibly have 
been satisfactory, and so may have given him 
pleasing assurance as regards the special policy 
76 



THE TAINFUL EXTREMITY. 77 

pursued. Public life, in its first and untried 
stages, seemed bright and fair, and exhibited 
some soft and delicate touches of the beautiful 
and sublime. Indeed it may have secured for 
the Prodigal much in the way of refined and ele- 
vating enjoyment; but this pleasing vision or 
dream of bliss was soon dissipated, and the fan- 
cied sweets, exhaling from a thousand beautiful 
flowers, proved to be but the floating and 
nauseating vapors of wormwood and of gall. 

The extremity of his lot — his bodily priva- 
tions and mental anguish — is depicted in strong 
and vivid colors, and brought before us, with 
resistless power, in the sacred narrative. 
Listen to the sad story. " And he would fain 
have filled his belly with the husks which the 
swine did eat: and no man gave unto him/' 
What, we ask, could be more painfully touch- 
ing, life-like, and singularly characteristic than 
this simple and unadorned picture of the poor 
wanderer! We seem, i3 fancy, to see the 
weary, way-worn pilgrim, now fully conscious 
of his error, pensively sitting beneath some 
spreading oak or pendant willow, pondering 



78 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

over his past life and conduct, and sadly bewail- 
ing the unfortunate course that he had pursued, 
in so hastily leaving his father's house. And, 
as he now turned back, in imagination, to the 
loved scenes of his innocent childhood and early 
youth, and re-enacted, in fancy at least, the 
pleasant melodrame of his early life, he felt 
only the more keenly the terrible bleakness and 
desolation of his present lonely and painful 
situation. His heart sank within him as he 
realized for the first time, probably, the fearful 
mistake which he had made. 

The poor unfortunate one, who, alienated in 
his affections, could no longer content himself 
in the magnificent and well-furnished palace, 
nor feel himself at ease in the friendly presence 
of father, and mother, and brother, and sister, 
now sits, lonely and fors.aken, a hungry sentinel 
over the feeding swine. u He would fain have 
filled his belly with the husks that the swine 
did eat." The lowest and filthiest denizens of 
the forest and the field fared better than the 
luckless son of a kind and amiable father — the 
child of a splendid home, deemed worthy to be 



TEE FAINFUL EXTREMITY. 79 

the representative of the kingdom of God — the 
home of the blessed saints! And, yet, what 
countless multitudes of poor, sinning, erring, 
and weary ones, who, by reason of their high 
birth and descent from Christian parents, are 
eminently entitled to a place and a name in 
God's house, are found in all parts of the world, 
hopeless and cheerless, " stumbling upon the 
dark mountains.' ' 

Professor Trench truly and beautifully re- 
marks that the use, in this connection, of the 
word " belly" indicates the deep depths of 
degradation to which the poor Prodigal was 
now reduced. The higher and nobler pursuits 
of life, the dearest interests of the immortal 
soul, and the praiseworthy ambition of leading 
an honorable life, all seem to have been for- 
gotten, in the keen sense of present distress, 
while the supply of his physical wants occupied 
his sole and undivided attention. In this fine 
and delicate touch of the Master's hand, the 
picture taken down and preserved by the pious 
care of the inspired pensman, we are brought, 
as it were, face to face with the Prodigal, and 



80 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

see as in a divinely polished mirror the 
extremity of his sufferings — the unfathomable 
depth of his degradation. But the case of the 
Prodigal is not singular and exclusive in this 
regard. His case is but the mirror and 
reflected image of all the unhappy wanderers 
from God's house, and its sweet and blissful 
communion. He, who has once tasted the 
sweetness of God's love — the length, and 
breadth, and highth, and depth of the Divine 
compassion, can never again wholly forget what 
he once witnessed and enjoyed in connection 
with God's house. Such an one can neither live 
nor die as a poor, unenlightened, heathen. In 
all his reckless wanderings in the wide world, 
his thoughts will instinctively revert to the 
scenes of his earlier and more innocent life. 
Beautiful and entrancing images of the father's 
house — of brothers, sisters, and friends — of the 
family altar, and of the dear old church, in 
which he felt the first throbbings of a new-born 
soul, experienced the earliest acts of communion 
with the higher and holier world of life and 
light, in Christ Jesus, and gratefully lisped his 



THE PAINFUL EXTREMITY. 81 

first " Abba, Father/' in the sweet consciousness 
of pardon and peace, — images of all .these 
things, sweet and charming beyond conception, 
will naturally loom up before the rapt vision of 
the once faithful, but now estranged and wan- 
dering child of the covenant ! 

Do we complain of this deep, durable, ineradi- 
cable in-burning of the Divine image in our 
souls? Do we regret that all the impressions 
of our earlier and more innocent life and 
experience, in connection with the blessed 
worship in our Father's house, are thus indeli- 
bly stamped upon the soul, and linger lovingly 
around us like so many radiant anct^ sheltering 
visions of beauty and power ? Nay, rather, we 
rejoice that it is so. We feel thankful to the 
bountiful giver of all good, that "the dew of 
our youth" remains thus permanently upon us, 
and serves us, in all our wanderings, as an 
ever-present and faithful monitor. This is that 
blessed "unction from the Holy One" which we 
have received; and, in the strength of which 
we can encourage each other, and each speak, 
in words of sweetest balm, to his fellows: "The 
4* 



82 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

anointing, which ye have received of Him, 
abideth in you; and ye need not that any man 
teach you : but, as the same anointing teacheth 
you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and 
even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in 
Him." 

But it was evidently this lingering presence 
of the deserted father, and brother, and home 
with its endearments, that rendered the 
spiritual desolation of his exiled state the more 
sensibly painful and insufferable to the weary 
wanderer. Only in his present distress — in the 
overwhelming sense of his pressing physical 
wants, whifch, like a crushing incubus, lay with 
mountain weight upon his tortured soul, he had 
measurably forgotten the higher and holier 
interests of the spiritual, invisible, and eternal 
world. And the same sad experience, also, we 
often make. If affluence is fraught with dan- 
ger, so also is poverty; and if the rich man, 
" clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring 
sumptuously every day," was tempted to forget 
God and neglect his fellow-men, so also was 
Lazarus, "full of sores, and desiring to be fed 



THE TAINFUL EXTREMITY. 83 

with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's 
table/' in danger of becoming impatient, and 
sinning away the benefit of the severe but 
merciful trial, to which he was subjected. He, 
however, stood the test, and thus received 
the blessedness of the man that "endureth 
temptation." 

Let us go back once more in imagination to 
the lonely fields, so bleak and barren, in which 
the greedy swine were feeding, and briefly re- 
view one other feature in this picture of wretch- 
edness and woe. The poor captive — the slave 
of lust — earnestly desired to share the scanty 
and insipid fare of the hungry swine, "and no 
man gave unto him." Even a stern and heart- 
less stoic could weep tears of blood, as he gazes 
upon this picture of utter destitution, which is 
here brought into view. Who can fathom the 
depth of pent-up anguish that struggled in the 
bleeding heart of the once delicate and happy 
son, leaning composedly upon the bosom of a 
fond and doting parent, but now homeless, friend- 
less, desolate! Angels looked down upon that 
scene of extremity with unwonted ardor of feel- 



84 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

ing and overpowering depth of compassion; and 
even the pitiless and scoffing aliens, among 
whom the Prodigal sojourned, must have felt a 
thrill of secret horror as they looked upon the 
helpless stranger, and experienced some ten- 
derness towards the homeless and friendless 
wanderer. Over and above all, there sweetly 
lingered around the son that was "lost," a 
bright, soft, soothing image of an absent " fa- 
ther," -v^hich whispered to him, in accents of 
sweetest, tenderest love, reminding him, at 
times, of pity in the heart of the distant one, 
who, in the depth of his sorrow, sat there pen- 
sively watching and looking out for the early, 
penitent, permanent return of the poor Prodigal. 

LOVE'S CALL. 

" Acquaint thee, O mortal, acquaint thee with God, 
And joy like the sunshine shall beam on thy road, 
And peace, like the dew-drop, shall fall on thy head, 
And sleep, like an angel, shall visit thy bed. 

Acquaint thee, O mortal, acquaint thee with God, 
And He shall be with thee when fears are abroad, 
Thy safe-guard in danger, that threatens thy path, 
Thy joy in the valley and shadow of death." 



THE PAINFUL EXTREMITY. 85 

RESPONSE. 
Long unafflicted, undismayed, 
In pleasure's path, secure, I strayed : 
Thou mad'st me feel Thy chastening rod, 
And straight I turned unto my God. 

What tho' it pierced my fainting heart, 
I bless Thine hand that caused the smart; 
It taught my tears awhile to flow, 
But saved me from eternal woe ! 

O hadst Thou left me unchastised, 
Thy precepts I had still despised ; 
And still the snare, in secret laid, 
Had my unwary feet betrayed. 

' I love Thee, therefore, O my God, 
And breathe toward Thy dear abode ; 
Where, in Thy presence fully blest, 
Thy chosen saints for ever rest. 



VIII. THE INTROVERSION; OR, PENITENT 
SELF-RECOLLECTION. 

" Why should a living man complain 
Of deep distress within, 
Since every sigh and every pain 
Is but the fruit of sin ? " 

The painfully trying ordeal through which 
the poor Prodigal had to pass, in his self-im- 
posed servitude, wrought a salutary change in 
his views and feelings, and inclined him se- 
riously to turn his attention to better and 
worthier objects. Indeed such is the natural 
effect of suffering, universally, upon the sensi- 
tive heart. The subduing power of physical 
want, as in the present case, generally comes 
into play, and shows itself in a willingness to 
acknowledge, at least, some kind of dependence 
on a higher power. In the present instance, 
the effect was singularly corrective and salutary. 
Hence the expression — "When he came to 
himself." This language assumes, in the case 
of the hapless wanderer, a state bordering on 
moral insanity, of which he needs to be 
86 



PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION. 87 

effectually cured before he is able to retrace his 
steps. And is not this representation eminently 
just and fitting, as applied to all men uni- 
versally ? 

When we bear in mind that our entire 
spiritual nature is constitutionally fitted, and, 
indeed, expressly designed for communion with 
God, the Father of our spirits ; and that it can 
not possibly reach its final consummation, 
except as it stands in this normal relation to 
the fountain of all life and blessedness, we see, 
at once, how eminently true it is, that the poor 
wandering sinner is really and truly in a state 
of moral derangement — out of himself, thrown 
from the proper centre of his inner being. His 
spiritual nature being thus effectually unhinged, 
his mental vision distorted, and his life wicked 
and perverse, he, accordingly, needs, in the 
deepest and truest sense of the terms, a " coming 
to himself." Without such a complete and 
radical inversion of his inner life, as is indicated 
by this coming to himself, . the poor Prodigal 
could never have come to see things in the same 
light in which he finally did see them, just at 



88 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

this point. And is it not virtually thus with 
us all ? Are we not spiritually blind, yea, even 
dead in trespasses and in sins? Is not the 
mind by nature so completely warped and 
blinded, and the heart so strangely perverted, 
that, in the strong language of the sacred 
Scriptures, we must be divinely illuminated, 
renewed, and born again or regenerated? In 
wandering away from God we follow our own 
poor shadows, while the pure and blessed light 
of heaven is effectually excluded from the paths 
of our feet. how true is it that we play the 
part of maniacs — of raving madmen — in refer- 
ence to our spiritual and eternal interests! 
Objects of infinite importance are passed over 
and disposed of with scarcely a serious thought, 
while to the most trivial interests of earth, we 
readily and zealously devote our best energies, 
and, in their pursuit, put forth our greatest and 
most strenuous efforts. From these delusive 
reveries we must be aroused; and, emerging 
from the thick darkness, that naturally sur- 
rounds us, we must place ourselves in natural 
and normal relation to the Eternal Light. Like 



PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION. 89 

the awakened Prodigal, we must thoughtfully 
come to ourselves, and, with altered views and 
altered feelings, wo must begin a new life — a 
life of faith in the Son of God ! 

Such evidently was the case, in substance, 
with the Prodigal Son. "When he came to 
himself" he looked at things in an entirely new 
light, and contemplated entirely new and higher 
objects. His thoughts instinctively reverted to 
the scenes of his childhood and all its innocent 
sports — to the paternal mansion with its rich 
and abundant supplies of good things — to the 
humble domestics, even, in that once so dear 
and cherished home, with their more than 
needed supplies — to everything, in fact, which 
entered into the history of his early life, and 
its bright and pleasing associations. All the 
loved scenes of that distant home passed in 
quick succession and vivid review before his 
mental vision, and elicited a train of the most 
serious and important reflections. He very 
thoughtfully contrasted his present wretched 
and forlorn condition with that of the lowest 
menials in his forsaken home. "How many 



90 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

hired servants in my father's house have bread 
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger." 
Such an expression of painful recollection was 
exactly suited to his deplorable condition, and 
• depicts in strong and vivid colors the ineffably 
wretched state in which the poor sinner, also, 
now finds himself, in a spiritual point of view — 
insanely "stumbling upon the dark mountains." 
that men would consider! that every im- 
penitent sinner could fully realize his true 
condition, and, like the Prodigal, penitently 
confess and bewail his lost and ruined state! 
When once men are brought thus far, in the 
way of divine illumination, then there is hope 
of their full and final recovery. But it is well 
known that the great difficulty in saving men 
lies precisely here — in their total insensibility 
to sin, and inability to see themselves in the 
true light. Only as we go out of ourselves, 
and view things in the light of eternity, do we 
come to a true knowledge of our spiritual condi- 
tion. The poor Prodigal, enslaved to sense, 
and wholly at the mercy of these low and 
unworthy objects, had apparently no conscious- 



PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION. 91 

Dees of his degraded condition; and, only, when 
aroused from his fatal reverie and delivered 
from his foreign bondage, literally " coming to 
himself," did he have power to reflect calmly 
and dispassionately upon his unfortunate state. 
In the light and glory of this new position he 
raised himself above sense and sensual things, 
and estimated properly the home and home 
comforts which he had ingloriously forsaken ! 

If we look at ourselves, and the relation we 
sustain to the spirit world; and, then, call to 
mind how little we appreciate the things of God, 
have we not abundant reason to be alarmed, 
and, with the repentant Prodigal earnestly to 
retrace our steps? How little, as a general 
thing, do we appreciate our high and holy pri- 
vileges, and order our conduct in a way at all 
worthy of these heavenly realities? Only when 
we come to ourselves, are we in a position to 
estimate our religious advantages at their just 
value. that we might turn away from the 
low and groveling things of sense, and most 
earnestly seek "the things which are above, 
where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God !" 



92 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Tell me, sinner, what is it, that in this 
world of sense, so pleases you, and throws such 
a fatal spell around you ? Are you sure that 
you are not degrading yourself immeasurably 
when you stoop to play the swine-herd in the 
fields of an alien ? Is there any thing in the 
spiritual destitution of that world of sense which 
you have chosen, that really pleases you, or af- 
fords you any genuine satisfaction ? Why do 
you continue in the service of a foreign tyrant, 
when this self-imposed servitude brings you no- 
thing but wretchedness and want? Why should 
you be willing to famish the immortal mind, 
when heaven's richest treasures are freely offer- 
ed to your acceptance? And think of what you 
thus lose in point of heavenly advantages — the 
rich and boundless provisions in your Father's 
house. But, alas, these gifts of the divine boun- 
ty are but a small portion of the actual loss you 
sustain. God Himself is the portion of His peo- 
ple. His boundless love is the source of our 
highest blessedness. And will you disregard 
Him, who is so kind, so patient, so long-suffer- 
ing, and so ready to forgive ? 



PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION. 93 

Look up, poor wanderer of earth, and see in 
yonder world of light and glory the beautiful 
home, which, by your sins and misdeeds, you 
have forsaken and lost ! But, look again, and, as 
you gaze with intense interest upon its massive 
walls, and pearly gates, and streets of solid gold, 
seek to revive in your callous heart the remem- 
brance of that dear home, as the city of your 
God — your city — your eternal home ! For has 
not God promised to admit to that blessed city 
all that penitently seek for admission there? 
" Blessed are they that do His commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and 
may enter in through the gates into the city." 
Here is hope ; here is encouragement. To all that 
are " weary and heavy-laden " the benevolent Re- 
deemer promises rest. He kindly invites them 
to His presence, and encourages them to hope 
in His mercy. Look, sinner, with an eager, 
steady, hopeful eye upon the blessed home of 
the saints — " the city which hath foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God." Say to your- 
self this is the city of God — the home of my 
Father; and, as you carefully contrast the in- 



94 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

effable glory and blessedness of its pure inhabi- 
tants, with the unutterable degradation and 
wretchedness of your own condition, join the 
repentant Prodigal in saying, " How many hired 
servants in my Fathers house have bread 
enough and to spare, and I perish with hun- 
ger;" and to this sad confession of your misery 
add the beautiful and touching prayer : " God 
be merciful to me, a sinner." 

"COME TO ME." 

With tearful eyes I look around, 
Life seems a dark and stormy sea ; 

Yet, 'midst the gloom, I hear a sound, 
A heavenly whisper—' Come to me.* 

It tells me of a place of rest — 
It tells me where my soul may flee ; 

Oh ! to the weary, faint, opprest, 
How sweet the bidding—' Come to me.' 

When nature shudders, loth to part 

From all I love, enjoy, and see ; 
When a faint chill steals o'er my heart, 

A sweet voice utters—' Come to me.* 

Come, for all else must fail and die, 

Earth is no resting-place for thee ; 
Heavenward turn thy weeping eye, 

I am thy portion—' Come to me.' 



PENITENT SELF-RECOLLECTION. 95 

O voice of mercy ! voice of love ! 

In conflict, grief, and agony, 
Support me, cheer me from above, 

And gently whisper—' Come to me.' 

— FROM THE SHAWM. 



■ Flee as a bird to your mountain, 

Thou who art weary of sin ; 
Fly to the clear-flowing fountain, 

There thou mayst wash and be clean ; 
Fly, for the avenger is near thee ; 
Fly, for the Saviour will hear thee ; 
He on his bosom will bear thee, 

Sheltered so tenderly there." 



IX. THE MANLY RESOLUTION; OR, "i WILL 
ARISE AND GO TO MY FATHER.'' 



"Bowed down beneath a load of sin, 
By Satan sorely prest ; 
By war without, and fears within, 
I come to Thee for rest." 

The poor penitent; bewailing his exiled and 
forlorn state, did not stop short with his tears 
and his act of self-recollection, but piously 
added to his agonized confession the better and 
nobler part of an earnest and manly resolution. 
"I will arise, and go to my father, and will say 
unto him, Father, I have sinned against 
Heaven, and before thee, and am no more wor- 
thy to be called thy son : make me as one of 
thy hired servants." 

Many good and well-meaning people, startled 
from their slumbers, make a fatal mistake just 
at this point. They go, in their experience of 
the world's vanity and inability to satisfy the 
heart, as far as did the Prodigal; but here they 
stop short, and suffer the salutary impressions, 
that have been made upon them, to pass away 
96 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. 97 

without leaving any permanently good results 
behind. The painful experience of the Prodi- 
gal; his strong and overwhelming sense of the 
vanity of the outside world; the lively recol- 
lection he had of the paternal mansion and its 
abundant provisions; and the utterly hopeless 
nature of his present condition, all conspired to 
urge him forward in the course of penitence 
and faith on which he had entered. He must 
do more than simply lament his present misery. 
He must arise from his wretched state, and 
hasten into the presence of his injured father. 
He must freely and fully unbosom himself in 
the presence of his loving parent, and seek 
access to his benevolent heart. He must seek 
pardon and reconciliation, and re-admission to 
the paternal mansion. He must by all means 
have a name and a place in the old homestead, 
even if it be but among the hired servants. 
For his contrite and bleeding heart, the lowest 
and meanest place in the house of his father is 
far better than are the most splendid and fasci- 
nating places in the open and apostate world. 
In the power of this new and salutary expe- 



98 GIFT-BOOK FOE, THE MILLION. 

rience and better knowledge, he says : " I will 
arise and go to my father." 

What pathos, what beauty, what overwhelm- 
ing and subduing power is found in these few 
and simple words of the penitent wanderer ! 

In pronouncing these sweet and blessed words 
of hope, his tongue, unused to such language, 
might well falter, and his repentant heart 
quiver and throb in his heaving bosom, as he 
raised his aching head, and manfully nerved his 
contrite spirit to utter the beautiful and 
touching words: "I will arise and go to my 
father." To speak forth this noble resolution 
required, in his case, an immense effort; but 
the " unction from the Holy One" lay like a* 
healing balm, more softly and soothingly than 
that of Gilead, upon his w T ounded spirit. And, 
as he began to give utterance to the beau.tiful 
words of deep, penitent, heartfelt contrition, 
they ascended, like a radiant cloud of burning 
incense, slowly and calmly to the upper world, 
and served as a harbinger or prevening sentinel, 
to open and prepare the way for the presenta- 
tion of the subsequent prayer. How pleasant 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. 99 

and soul-refresliing to contemplate the poor 
Prodigal at this interesting point in the history 
of his new and wonder-working experience. 
We are disposed to forget, and to cover up with 
the mantle of charity, all his previous offences 
and short-comings. We feel ourselves instinc- 
tively drawn to his person, as we gaze upon the 
beautiful sight, and our warmest sympathies are 
elicited in his behalf, as we hear him saying, in 
accents of deep and tender emotion, intermin- 
gled with sighs and tears, and struggling with 
fear : " I will arise, and go to my father, and 
will say unto him, Father, I have sinned 
against Heaven, and before thee, and am no 
more worthy to be called thy son." 

The form and spirit of this generous 
confession, which he contemplated making, 
deserve our highest admiration. For subdued 
pathos, tenderness and delicacy of -feeling, 
penitent grief, and heartfelt contrition, they 
are, in every respect, unparalleled — absolutely 
inapproachable ! 

Look again and again at the extraordinary 
scene, and listen attentively to the sweet, 



100 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

beautiful, and charming words until they burn 
themselves indelibly upon your heart and mind ; 
so that, in case of need, they may at any time 
spring up spontaneously in your own bosom, 
and serve you a like purpose with that of the 
repentant, sad, and heart-stricken Prodigal! 
"I will arise, and go to my father" — go to him 
with my burdens and my sins resting upon my 
weary heart; goto him with sighs and tears, 
confessing my shameful apostasy; go to him 
with a heart full of sorrow, and struggling with 
mingled emotions of hope and fear ; go to him, 
humbly confessing my unworthiness to a place 
in that dear abandoned home of my childhood 
and youth ; go to him deeply bewailing my 
shameless ingratitude, and yet, in the power of 
those lingering remains of an earlier love, seek 
admittance to his parental heart; go to him 
confidingly, and submit myself, absolutely, and 
without any further conditions, to his merciful 
arbitration ; go to him, finally, in prayer, and 
say, " Father, I have sinned against Heaven, 
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son." 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. 101 

But, Oil ! how can a repentant child, once 
more deeply sensible of the worth and precious- 
of a parent, kind, tender-hearted, and 
compassionate, and fully conscious too, that, 
only in a parent's love, and with a parent's ap- 
probation, can peace and happiness be found, — 
how can a child, in such circumstances, bear the 
thought of being disowned, rejected, excluded 
from the paternal mansion, and denied the pa- 
rental love and approbation! That, indeed, 
would be the bitterest ingredient in the cup of 
sorrow — the very essence of eternal death — the 
wormwood and the gall ! And, yet, the poor 
Prodigal seems to have had a kind of dark pre- 
sentiment that such, possibly, might be the case. 
Hence, in his contemplated confession, he wise- 
ly supplements his acknowledgment of unwor- 
thiness, with the prayer : " Make me as one of 
thy hired servants." How very natural, and 
how perfectly accordant with our own feelings 
in similar circumstances ! Have we not often 
come into the presence of God with similar feel- 
ings, and with exactly the same expressions? 
Have we not sometimes felt as though we could 



102 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

hardly lift up our eyes to Heaven, because of 
the deep and overwhelming consciousness of our 
sin and guilt, and consequent unworthiness to 
be counted among " the sons of God ?" And, 
if this be the case with us, even after we have 
experienced the sweet and blessed peace of par- 
doned sin and conscious reconciliation with 
God in the blood of the cross, much more must 
such feelings struggle in the bosom of the poor 
sinner, as he comes for the first time to seek, at 
the hand of God, the blessings of pardon and 
peace. The Prodigal had been a " son," proba- 
bly, in the higher sense ; and at one time, had 
his place in the father's house, and around the 
parental board. His experience, in such case, 
would rather be that of a delinquent church 
member, who, having been saved from the cor- 
ruptions that are in the world, afterwards re- 
turned again to its " beggarly elements." But ; 
whatever may have been the exact spiritual sta- 
tus of the Prodigal, his example is still of full 
force, even in the case of those, who for the first 
time, attracted by the dying Saviour, seek shel- 
ter and deliverance in His bloody cross. 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. ll)3 

11 Him that cometh unto Me," says the com- 
passionate Redeemer, " I will in no wise cast 
out." So the poor terror-stricken paralytic, 
brought to Him on a couch, and not even daring 
to ask for the temporal blessing which he craved, 
awakened His compassion, and obtained a bless- 
ing far beyond what he anticipated or even de- 
sired. "And Jesus, seeing their faith, said un- 
to the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; 
thy sins be forgiven thee." After this deeper 
and more malignant part of his ailment, and, 
possibly, the cause also of his physical malady, 
was removed, Jesus graciously added, also, the 
other and smaller blessing: "Arise, take up. 
thy bed, and go unto thine house." And, in obe- 
dience to this challenge, he immediately "arose 
and departed to his house." Or, as a still more 
illustrious example of the compassionate love 
and saving power of our great High Priest, 
look at the affecting scene which occurred in the 
house of Simon, the Pharisee. We shall give 
the incident in the beautiful and touching lan- 
guage of the Evangelist St. Luke (chap. vii. 3G 
-47.) Having received an invitation, Jesus 



104 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

"went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down 
to meat. And ; behold, a woman in the city, 
which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus 
sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an 
alabaster-box of ointment, and stood at His feet 
behind Him weeping ; and began to wash His 
feet with tears, and did wipe them with the 
hairs of her head; and kissed His feet, and 
anointed them w T ith the ointment." To this ex- 
traordinary conduct the Pharisee naturally 
enough objected, as derogatory to his illustrious 
guest — the prophet of God. But Jesus, mildly 
rebuking his over exacting and too ceremonious 
host, commended the deep contrition, and loving 
faith of the poor penitent at His feet, saying to Si- 
mon : " There was a certain creditor which had two 
debtors; the one owed him five hundred pence, 
and the other fifty. And when they had nothing 
to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, 
therefore, which of them will love him most? 
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to 
whom he forgave most. And He said unto him 
thou hast rightly judged. And He turned to 
the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. 105 

this woman? I entered into thine house, thou 
gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath 
washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with 
the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss : 
but this woman, since the time I came in, hath 
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil 
thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath 
anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I 
say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are for- 
given; for she loved much: but to whom little 
is forgiven, the same loveth little. And He 
said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they 
that sat at meat with Him, began to say within 
themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins also ? 
' And He said to the woman, Thy faith hath 
saved thee; go in peace." 

The poor penitent, whose case we have just 
recited, had no doubt her secret misgivings as 
she approached the pure and sinless Eedeemer 
of the world ; and, had not her case been so 
^erate, and her faith in the compassionate 
love of Christ so strong and overpowering, she 
might well have hesitated, and stood aghast at 
the terrible presumption of going into His 

5* 



106 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

presence and touching His sacred person. But 
her victorious faith was fully equal to the 
mighty task ; and ; in the power of that love 
which surmounted every obstacle, she carried 
away with her the blessed assurance of pardon 
and peace. A like encouraging instance of 
success in the case of a poor penitent, we have 
in the heart-stricken publican, who, "standing 
afar off, did not so much as lift up his eyes unto 
heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying : God 
be merciful to me, a sinner; " and, in the power 
and efficacy of this short and unseemly prayer, 
"he went down to his house justified rather 
than the other" — the proud Pharisee, who 
"thanked God that he was not like other men." ' 
And justly so, according to the fixed and 
unalterable principles which govern the king- 
dom of God: "For every one that exalteth 
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth 
himself shall be exalted." 

This, indeed, is good news to the awakened 
and trembling sinner, as he comes, in penitence 
and faith, to the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, with the appropriate and touching 



THE MANLY RESOLUTION. 107 

confession, "Father, I have sinned against 
Heaven, and before thee, and am no more 
worthy to be called thy son : make me as one 
of thy hired servants. " In view of the beau- 
tiful and instructive instances already adduced, 
we feel authorized to encourage any and every 
awakened sinner to imitate the example of the 
Prodigal. We feel sure that the same blessed 
results will invariably follow, in every such 
case; and, that, starting out in the spirit of 
genuine repentance, and making humble con- 
fession of his sins to the offended majesty of 
Heaven, every returning Prodigal shall find 
immediate pardon and acceptance with God, 
in Christ. 

And, now, addressing myself once more to 
all such as are out on the highway of sin and 
transgression, let me affectionately urge and 
tenderly beseech you to go and do like the 
Prodigal. Realize to yourselves, clearly and 
vividly, the deep, unfathomable depths of 
degradation to which sin has reduced you — the 
painful and heart-rending privations to which 
you are subjected in your foreign and self-im- 



108 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

posed servitude — the neglect which you have 
to endure, even at the hands of the very persons 
who have enticed you out into the by-paths of 
sin and folly; and, having brought these things 
in earnest review before your mental vision, 
contrast them with that "fullness of joy," and 
those "pleasures for evermore," which are found 
in the Church of Christ — the quiet, blessed, 
peaceful palaces, and "many mansions" in the 
house of your forsaken God and Father ! Do 
as did the Prodigal, when, awakened from his 
fatal delusion, he said, " I will arise, and go to 
my father, and will say unto him, Father, I 
have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, 
and am no more worthy to be called thy son : 
make me as one of thy hired servants." While 
uttering this penitent prayer, you will hear, 
already in the dim distance, the sweet whisper- 
ing of a Father's heart, saying, " Be of good 
cheer, my son, my daughter, thy sins be for- 
given thee." 

Having, then, before us the beautiful example 
of the Prodigal Son, contrite and heart-broken, 
and also the many encouraging promises of the 



THE MANLY KESOLUTION. 109 

Divine Word, we may surely recommend to all 
weary wanderers — the erring and sinning ones 
of earth — the solemn challenge of the popular 
Hymn, addressed to the poor penitent, and, 
also, the generous and hearty response, which, 
by the same Hymn, is put into his quivering 
lips : — 

THE EFFORT. 
Come, humble sinner, in whose breast 

A thousand thoughts revolve ; 
Come, with your guilt and fear opprest, 

And make this last resolve : 

" I'll go to Jesus, though my sin 
Hath like a mountain rose ; 
I know his courts, TH enter in, 
Whatever may oppose. 

"Prostrate I'll lie before His throne, 

And there my guilt confess; 

I'll tell him, I'm a wretch undone, 

Without His sov'reign grace. 

" Perhaps He will admit my plea, 
Perhaps will hear my pray'r ; 
But if I perish, I will pray, 
And perish only there. 

" I can but perish if I go, 
I am resolved to try ; 
For, if I stay away, I know 
I must for ever die ! " 



X. THE PROMPT ACTION; OR, BACK TO THE 
FATHER'S HOUSE. 

" It is a weary way, and I am faint ; 

I pant for purer air and fresher springs; 
O Father! take me home; there is a taint, 

A shadow on earth's purest, brightest things. 
This world is but a wilderness to me, 
There is no rest, my God, apart from Thee ! " 

From the deep and solemn earnestness of 
the resolution formed and enunciated by the 
repentant Prodigal, and brought to our notice 
in the preceding section, we were encouraged 
to hope for something still better in the future, 
namely, his penitent return to the home of his 
early youth. This better and nobler part we 
now have before us; we mean, as already 
intimated, his departure from the land of his 
late exile and bitter servitude, his return to his 
injured father, his confession, and his gracious 
reception, on the part of his loving and indul- 
gent parent. The record is very brief, but 
beautiful : " And he arose, and came to his 
father." He did not act like so many delin- 
110 



THE PROMPT ACTION. Ill 

quanta now-a-days, who, when called to duty, 
imitate the bad example of the younger of two 
sons in another parable. He rather did as the 
elder son in that remarkable story. Here is 
the whole parable, which is well worthy of 
careful perusal and earnest study. " A certain 
man had two sons; and he came to the first, 
and said — 'Son, go work to-day in my vine- 
yard/ He answered and said, 'I will not;' 
but afterwards he repented, and went. And 
he came to the second, and said likewise. And 
he answered and said, 'I go, Sir;' and went 
not." 

Not basely and deceitfully, like this younger 
of the two sons, did the awakened Prodigal. 
His experience was the exact opposite. He 
had hastily and inconsiderately left his early 
home, and plunged headlong into a course of 
sensuality, and experienced all the evil conse- 
quences and bitter fruits of such a vile and 
unworthy course. When, however, the intensity 
of his sufferings once more brought him to his 
senses, he, in the strength of his earlier and 
better principles, firmly resolved to retrace his 



112 GIFT-BOOK FOB THE MILLION. 

truant steps; and, no sooner was this manly- 
resolution formed, than "he arose, and came to 
his father." 

What a beautiful example for our imitation 
does this noble conduct of the Prodigal afford ! 
How natural was it in his case; and how natu- 
ral, too, would it seem to be for us all to 
imitate his wise and salutary course. But, 0, 
how seldom do we find the good feelings of the 
heart, which, at times, spring up in us, by a 
kind of divine impulse, properly husbanded, 
cherished, and practically improved! In most 
instances of the kind, these better feelings and 
nobler impulses are thoughtlessly treated, and 
suffered to pass away, without leaving even a 
trace of their presence in the heart. How 
inconsiderately do we often act in reference to 
these secret inspirations of the Almighty, so 
evidently designed to lead us to the mercy-seat ! 
We trifle and sport with the highest and holiest 
things, as though they were of no use, while 
we often take the greatest pains to attend to 
our lower and perishable interests. Here, in 
the example of the returning Prodigal, are we 



THE rPwOMTT ACTION. 113 

to learn a lesson of the highest wisdom; and, 
by imitating his deeply earnest and successful 
course, we shall find rest to our weary souls ! 
We, too, must arise, and go to our Father — 
the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and seek for pardon and reconciliation 
in the blood of the everlasting covenant! 

It is of infinite importance for us to see to it, 
that when a good resolution is formed, it be also 
faithfully carried out ; otherwise it will do us 
little or no good. "For, if any be a hearer of 
the word, and not a doer/' says St. James, "he 
is like a man beholding his natural face in a 
glass; for, he beholdeth himself, and goeth his 
way, and straightway forgetteth what manner 
of man he was. But whoso looketh into the 
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, 
he, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of 
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." 

To show the practical bearing of these re- 
marks, especially, the pregnant words of St. 
James, I will refer to several facts, which came 
under my own personal observation, and serve to 
illustrate and confirm the sentiments expressed. 



114 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Some twenty-five years ago I was called upon, 
very unexpectedly, to preach a sermon at Eliza- 
bethtown, in my native state. Having no pre- 
paration whatever, at the time, my mind was 
very much agitated; but, while thinking over 
the matter, the affecting words of the prophet 
Jeremiah, uttered in the name of the suffering 
church, came suddenly into my mind : " Is it 
nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and 
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, 
which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath 
afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.' ' In 
introducing my subject, I stated that this was 
the language of the church, in the deep afflic- 
tions which were then upon her ; but that, in 
consequence of the intimate relation subsisting 
between Christ and His church, the words 
might be very justly applied to Him. Hence, 
we might conceive of Christ, as wounded and 
grieved by the sins and inconsistencies of men, 
even those of His own household — " crucified 
afresh and put to an open shame," as St, Paul 
says. Of these, the deepest and most galling 
afflictions, Jesus, the "man of sorrows and ac- 



the rROMn action. 115 

quainted with grief" was uttering His pathetic 
complaint?, and appealing to those that were 
sing by for sympathy and compassion. In 
illustration of this appeal I referred to a paint- 
ing on a tavern-sign, which I had often noticed, 
representing a deadly conflict between a white 
man and an Indian. The wounded savage lay 
upon his left side, propped up on his arm, while, 
with his right hand, he firmly grasped the 
bayonet of the white man's gun, deeply im- 
bedded in his bosom, his upturned and glaring 
eyes, at the same time, intently fixed upon those 
of his superior antagonist, and, with an ex- 
pression of intensest agony, upon his counte- 
nance, apparently pleading most earnestly for 
pity and compassion at- the hands of his assailant. 
Many years after the above incident occurred, 
I put up at a public house in the city of Harris- 
burg, when I noticed behind the counter a 
young man evidently uneasy and deeply agi- 
tated. After walking back and forward several 
times and casting his eyes upon me, he said, 
" Are you a preacher ?" I told him I was. 
" Did you ever preach at Chambersburg ?" I 



116 GIFT-BOOK FOE THE MILLION, 

answered that I did preach there once. " When ?" 
I said it was during the Mexican war, when a 
number of soldiers were lying over, there, in 
their transit. After a short pause, he said, 
" That's not the time ; did you ever preach at 
Elizabethtown ? " I told him I did. " And did 
you refer to a certain picture on a tavern-sign ?" 
I replied that I did refer to such a picture in il- 
lustration of the sufferings of Christ at the hands 
of sinners. "Well, I can never forget that," said 
he, " it has been sticking to me ever since." Such, 
as near as I can now remember, were the words 
of the youth. His countenance indicated ir- 
regular habits; otherwise he was perfectly 
respectful and gentlemanly. He had evidently 
been deeply affected by the sign-picture, which, 
from his habits of life, may have particularly 
arrested his attention. But, whatever impres- 
sions may have been made on his mind, and 
whatever resolutions he may have formed at 
xhe time, it is very evident, that, up to that 
time, he had not carried out his good resolutions, 
or improved his impressions. What became of 
him afterwards God only knows. 



THE rrOMPT action. 117 

About the same time that I had this inter- 
view with the interesting young stranger, 
apparently so unfortunate, I was instructing a 
class of young persons preparatory to confirma- 
tion. One day there sat among these interest- 
ing youths an old lady — aged four-score years 
— who seemed very attentive to what was said. 
When the services were closed, she arose, and 
came tottering up the aisle to the chancel, and 
said, " Would you give me one of these little 
books? " — Catechisms — " Certainly/' said I; 
and, at the same time, handed her one. Next 
week, and next, and so on, regularly, she came 
and took her seat among the interesting group 
of young persons, that were accustomed to 
meet there week after week for religious 
instruction. When the time for Holy Commu- 
nion arrived, she also made application for 
Church-membership, and was confirmed along 
with the remaining members of the class. 
Faithfully and lovingly did she serve her divine 
Lord and Master for about one year, when, 
amidst the tears and sorrows of many, she 
passed from the Church militant, on earth, to 



118 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

the Church triumphant, in heaven. Her corpse 
we laid hopefully in the grave, as a precious seed, 
to be revived and raised up again at the last day. 
These two cases, in some respects similar, 
and, yet, presenting a world-wide difference, in 
another respect, are but specimens of like 
instances which are daily occurring in all parts 
of the Christian world. But, however common 
such cases may be, they are none the less 
instructive, but illustrate a great principle, and 
are, in the highest degree, suggestive. They 
show conclusively, that resolutions alone, how- 
ever good and praiseworthy, are by no means 
sufficient. We must do more than this. The 
Prodigal " arose and came to his father." We 
also must arise and go to our Father — the God 
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; go to 
Him with penitent and contrite hearts, and, in 
the deep agony of our souls, make confession of 
our sins, and, especially, our shameless ingrati- 
tude, in forsaking the giver of every good and 
perfect gift, and exchanging the blessed worship 
of God's house for the poor and "beggarly 
elements" of this fallen world! 



THE PBOMPT ACTION. 119 

But we need to be, especially, on our guard 
in case we have been divinely illuminated, and 
brought to experience, more or less, "the 
powers of the world to come," lest we sin against 
these highest and holiest manifestations of the 
Divine love and compassion. " Watch and 
pray, that ye enter not into temptation/ ' says 
the blessed Eedeemer. "And grieve not the 
Holy Spirit of God," says the Apostle, "where- 
by ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." 
We must not only hear the words of eternal 
life and salvation, and, hearing, come to our- 
selves, and, in thought and feeling, turn back 
to our Father's house and worship; but we 
must, also, arise and go to our Father, actually 
and permanently, in the way of a full and 
everlasting surrender of ourselves to God, in 
Christ, who says " Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you 
rest." 

To the Saviour's merciful invitation, so freely 
extended to all the "weary and heavy-laden," 
to come unto Him, the poor penitent most 
heartily responds : — 



120 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

"JUST AS I AM." 

Just as I am— without one plea, 
But that Thy blood was shed for me, 
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am— and waiting not 
T.o rid my soul of one dark blot, 
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am— though tossed about, 

With many a conflict, many a doubt, 

Fightings within, and fears without, 

O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, — 
Sight, riches, healing of the mind, 
Yea, all I need, in Thee I find, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, 
Because Thy promise I believe, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

Just as I am, Thy love, unknown, 
Has broken every barrier down; 
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, 
O Lamb of God, I come ! 

— Chaelotte Elliott. 



XI. THE GRACIOUS RECEPTION AND 
RECONCILIATION. 

"Am I called ?— O joy of joys ! 
Earth, I spurn thy gilded toys I 
Washed, redeemed by precious blood, 
Heir of bliss— a child of God ! " 

The poor Prodigal started on his painfully 
interesting and important mission, hoping soon 
to stand at the door of the dear old home ; " but 
when he was yet a great way off, his father saw 
him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on 
his neck, and kissed him." What a picture this 
for the hand of a skillful painter ! What sim- 
plicity and beauty ! What pathos and delicacy 
of feeling in these sublime and fascinating words ! 
And what wondrous depths of love and compas- 
sion they reveal ! Should we give reins to our 
fancy, we might easily imagine the heart-broken 
father, grieved at the absence of his beloved 
son, and deeply distressed on account of the 
misery which he knows he is enduring, sitting 
at the window of his now desolate home, silent 
6 121 



122 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

and pensive, looking out anxiously for the re- 
turn of the lonely wanderer ! Away off in the 
dim distance the eager eye of the father discerns 
a moving figure. As he gazes with intensest 
interest upon this strange object, coming still 
nearer and nearer, he at length recognizes in it 
the likeness of a man ; and, as the possibility of 
its being his own erring son makes itself dimly 
felt, his swelling bosom heaves with alternate 
feelings of hope and fear. Ragged and covered 
with filth though he be, the poor pilgrim awakens 
in the heart of the anxious parent a strange 
feeling of sympathy, dim and undefined, indeed, 
yet sufficiently clear to suggest the possibility, 
likelihood, certainty, of its being his own son, 
passing in quick and thrilling flashes over his 
excited imagination. He goes out to meet the 
returning son, and in such haste as to encoun- 
ter him while yet a "great way off." What* 
an affecting scene this; and, yet, there are 
many such scenes continually witnessed in 
connection with the kingdom of God. Is not 
every case of repentance and genuine conversion 
the reflected image of this affecting scene? or, 



TEE GRACIOUS RECEPTION. 123 

rather, is not each successive instance of 
genuine repentance a true and substantial reali- 
zation, in a higher form, of this return of the 
Prodigal, and his eager and joyous reception 
on the part of the father? Are we not 
informed in close connection with this very 
story of the Prodigal, that " there is joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth?" 

The beautiful and touching record proceeds : 
"but when he was yet a great way off, his 
father saw him, and had compassion on him, 
and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." 
These closing words or phrases, give us an 
insight, as it were, into the father's benevolent 
heart, and disclose to us the deep fountains of 
his compassionate love and tenderness ! Over- 
powered by the intensity of his feelings, and 
rushing into the presence of his son, he at once 
embraces him in token of his deathless affec- 
tion, and imprints on his burning lips the kiss 
of peace. Every evidence of his boundless 
love and compassion must be brought to the 
notice of the abashed and trembling son, and 



124 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

his quivering heart assured of an interest in 
the father's love. And what is this but an 
image and shadow-picture of that divine love, 
which, in all ages of the world, the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ exercises to- 
wards His repentant children! Must we not 
all confess the sweet and blissful truth, that we 
too were met on our return, when yet a " great 
way off," and graciously embraced by our com- 
passionate " Father in Heaven ?" what 
amazing depths of this same tender and com- 
passionate love were disclosed to our wondering 
eyes, as we approached the blissful fountain of 
life and salvation, and stood in mute astonish- 
ment beneath the bloody cross! And as we 
gazed silently and adoringly upon that " marred" 
face, radiant with divinest love and compassion, 
and heard the sweet, soft, subduing voice of the 
dying Saviour, assuring us of an interest in His 
blood, did not we, also, feel the arms of eternal 
love around us, and the kiss of peace gently im- 
pressed upon our quivering lips by the now re- 
conciled Father? 

But why should we speak of that which 



THE GRACIOUS RECEPTION. 125 

v child of grace has experienced to a great- 
er or less extent? Should we not rather B] 
to the lowly and trembling sinner still out, in- 
deed, on the public highway of the world, but, 
at the same time, deeply conscious of his need 
of mercy, and earnestly longing to get back to 
the Father's house? And, even though the 
reader should still be in the "far off country/' 
feeding the filthy swine, and vainly desiring to 
" fill his belly with the husks which the swine 
did eat," we wish to speak to him of this tender 
love of the Eternal Father, and awaken in his 
bosom a feeling of home-sickness for that 
" house not made with hands, eternal, in the 
heavens — " the blessed home of the saints. 

Hear, then, the voice of infinite love speaking 
to you — to all : " As I live, saith the Lord God, 
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; 
but that the wicked turn from his way and 
live : turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; 
for why will ye die, house of Israel ? " What 
•t encouragement to the poor wanderer is 
found in this solemn declaration, on the part of 
God, that He has no pleasure in the death of 



126 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

any of His creatures. Come, then, all ye that 
have been straying upon the barren mountains 
of sin, and seek forgiveness at the hands of 
your forsaken God and Father. Hear what 
the ascended Saviour says to strengthen and 
encourage you in the conflict : " Him that over- 
cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of 
my God, and he shall go no more out ; and I 
will write upon him the name of my God, and 
the name of the city of my God, the new Jeru- 
salem, which cometh down out of heaven from 
my God ; and I will write upon him my new 
name." 

The reader, it is hoped, will pardon us for 
introducing here the sweet and charming words 
of another familiar and favorite Hymn. They 
express exactly and very beautifully the feelings 
which, we may justly suppose, struggled in the 
bosom of the poor Prodigal at this particular 
stage of his experience; even as the poor sinner, 
pardoned, and re-admitted to communion with 
God, earnestly seeks, also, to be in the fellow- 
ship of His saints. Hence, the words of the 
Hymn : — 



THE GRACIOUS RECEPTION. 127 

People of tho living God, 

I liavo Bought the world around; 
Paths of Bin and sorrow trod, 

Peace and comfort nowhere found; 
Now to you my spirit turns, 

Turns— a fugitive unblest; 
Brethren, where your altar burns, 

Oh ! receive me into rest. 

Lonely I no longer roam, 

Like the cloud, the wind, the wave; 
Where you dwell shall be my home, 

Where you die shall be my grave ; 
Mine the God whom you adore— 

Your Redeemer shall be mine ; 
Earth can fill my soul no more, 

Every idol I resign ! 



XII. THE GENEROUS CONFESSION AND 
REHABILITATION. 

" O for this love, let rocks and hills 
Their lasting silence break, 
And all harmonious human tongues 
The Saviour's praises speak." 

The return of the Prodigal contemplated a 
full and honest confession. He, in fact, sol- 
emnly announced his purpose to make such a 
confession in the earliest stage of his contrition, 
when he said, "I will arise, and go to my 
father, and will say unto him, Father, I have 
sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am 
no more worthy to be called thy son." In 
addition to this confession, he also designed 
offering up a special prayer. We have it in 
these humble and modest words : " Make me as 
one of thy hired servants." 

When, on his way to his father's house, the 

Prodigal was unexpectedly met by his fond and 

indulgent parent, kindly embraced, and kissed, 

he nevertheless commenced making his confes- 

128 



TEE GENEROUS CONFESSION. 129 

sion, repeating it in nearly the same words in 
which it had been previously conceived. He 
had, at length, gone through with the confession, 
and was just on the point of following it up 
with the contemplated prayer, when he was 
suddenly interrupted by the extraordinary 
conduct of the father. He was going to say 
"make me as one of thy hired servants;" but 
that, says Archbishop Trench, would have been 
inappropriate, and not at all consonant with the 
merciful design of the father, or, rather, with 
the general tenor of the economy of grace, 
which, strictly speaking, does not admit of 
hired servants in God's house. The Prodigal, 
indeed, was going to utter the prayer; "but 
the father said to his servants, bring forth the 
best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring 
on his hand, and shoes on his feet." 

What is the meaning of this language? 
What, for instance, shall we understand by the 
"robe," the "ring," and the "shoes," respect- 
ively? I think we may safely say, that, in 
these several articles of dress and ornament, 
we have what is so generally found to be 
6* 



130 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

acknowledged, and referred to, in various ways, 
in the language of Christian devotion. The 
"robe" is that garment of salvation in which 
the blessed saints in heaven are represented as 
being clothed, thus fitting them for the pure 
and spotless life of the upper world. So St. 
John, in his splendid vision of the heavenly- 
world, "saw a great multitude, which no man 
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
people, and tongues, standing before the throne, 
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, 
and palms in their hands; and they cried with 
a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." 
* * * "And one of the elders answered, say- 
ing — What are these which are arrayed in 
white robes, and whence came they?" And 
being himself appealed to for an explanation 
the elder answered and said, "These are they, 
which came out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes, and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb." 

This beautiful passage sufficiently indicates 
the nature and significance of the "robe," in 



THE GENEROUS CONFESSION. 131 

connection with this kindly reception of the 
poor Prodigal into favor, and his re-admittance 
to the paternal mansion. The nature of the 
place, and the character of the family there, 
required that he should be fitly clothed before 
re-entering the old homestead. This "robe" 
is also referred to in connection with the Para- 
ble of the marriage-feast, as the " wedding-gar- 
men t," in the absence of which one of the guests 
was severely reprimanded by our Lord, and 
then ejected from the festive hall, and cast into 
outer darkness. This shows the absolute neces- 
sity of the happy guests — the heavenly inhab- 
itants — being clothed in this festal garment or 
"white robe." The ascended Saviour, in His 
Epistle to the angel of the church in Sardis, 
warmly and encouragingly commends the few 
faithful ones, who had not " defiled their gar- 
ments," but preserved them pure and unsullied ; 
and then says of them : " They shall walk with 
me in white ; for they are worthy." The white 
robe is, therefore, a necessary condition for ad- 
mittance to the blessed home of the saints. 
In the way of illustrating this item, I will 



132 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

here relate, as it was told me, an incident which 
is said to have occurred in one of the interior 
counties of Pennsylvania, some years ago. A 
little child was taken down with a fatal disease. 
The parents had at one time been members of 
the Church, and their oldest children were, ac- 
cordingly, baptized, and thus introduced into 
the church and covenant of God. In the course 
of time, however, the father for some reason 
became estranged from the church, and opposed 
to the ordinances of God's house. He became, 
in this way, a confirmed skeptic as regards in- 
fant baptism. Hence this sick child, one of the 
younger members of the family, had not been 
baptized. The little sufferer grew worse and 
worse ; and, at length, drew near to the border- 
land. In some way, not explained, it got the 
impression that it ought to be baptized, and 
frequently spoke of it ; but the father was inex- 
orable, and would not listen to the simple and 
earnest pleadings of the child. At last, how- 
ever, some of the friends interposed, and begged 
the father to send for a minister of the gospel 
to baptize the agonized child. But he still re- 



THE GENEROUS CONFESSION. 133 

fused. At length, the poor child, weary and 
exhausted, fell into a deep sleep, and was sup- 
posed to be dying. By and by, however, it 
awoke, opened its little eyes, and said, " I have 
been away off to a beautiful place, where there 
were a great many children all clothed in white 
robes, except myself; and, because I had not a 
clean garment, I could not remain there." 
Again and again, it begged piteously to be bap- 
tized, in order, as it said, that it also might 
have a white robe, and be admitted to that 
beautiful place. At length, through the inter- 
position of friends, a minister was sent for, and 
the dying child baptized. It fell, a second time, 
into a deep sleep, and again appeared to be pass- 
ing away. By and by, however, it once more 
opened its little eyes, and said, " I was again to 
that beautiful place, and had also a white gar- 
ment like the rest of the children, and now I can 
go in and stay there." Soon after this it closed its 
weary eyes for the last time, on earth, and gently 
passed over the river, and took its place among 
the blessed ones in that beautiful home, which, in 
vision while here, it had bean permitted to see. 



134 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

This was only a dream, or a kind of dream- 
like vision of course ; but dreams do sometimes 
indicate and foreshadow the realities of the 
waking and conscious state. This is especially 
the case in reference to things belonging to the 
spirit world. In this territory of the unseen 
and eternal, our senses, and even reason itself, 
are frequently at fault, and it is not impossible, 
nor even wholly improbable, that, in the sleep- 
ing state, when the eye is closed, and the outer 
world of sense is shut out from the soul, the 
power of communing with the things of the un- 
seen and eternal world may be greater than in 
the waking state. At any rate, we need not 
wholly reject what in such circumstances comes 
within the experience of men. In the olden 
time the Lord frequently spake with and to 
men in dreams and visions ; and, if it pleases 
Him, He may do so still, especially to confound 
the proud and skeptical ! 

But what of the "ring," and of the " shoes" 
that were put on his finger and on his feet ? 
The former, I presume, was to be to the Prod- 
igal a token of his'full pardon, and re-adoption 



THE GENEROUS CONFESSION. 135 

into the family of which he had once been an 
acknowledged member, and from which he be- 
came separated by his departure, and residence 
in the u far-off country." The latter were in- 
tended to indicate his preparation for the 
Christian life — the obedient walk and conversa- 
tion. So St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians to 
have their "feet shod with the preparation of 
the Gospel of peace — " that is, to be qualified 
to walk in the w T ay of God's commandments ! 

In making an application of these things to 
ourselves, we are especially reminded of the 
rich and abundant provision made for us in the 
Gospel of the grace of God. Not only does the 
good Lord pardon the poor penitent, as he re- 
traces his steps, and seeks the face of his 
injured Father; but He also gives us such 
outward and sensible tokens of His forgiving 
love, that we cannot doubt of our acceptance 
and adoption. Such sacramental signs and 
seals of the invisible grace, bestowed on the 
humble penitent, are to be found in the Church 
of Christ as among her permanent arrange- 
ments. Wherefore "hear what the Spirit saith 



136 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

unto the Churches : To him that overcometh 
will I give to eat of the hidden manna ; and I 
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a 
new name written, which no man knoweth 
saving he that receiveth it." Here you have 
the appropriate and divinely designated outward 
tokens by which Jesus signifies and seals to us 
His eternal Love. And the weary wanderer 
himself, having just reached the turning point 
in his history — the all-important crisis, which 
had decided his fate, is now perfectly calm, and 
there is welling up in his reconciled and loving 
heart the sweet and soul-stirring prayer of the 
Christian poet : — 

Jesus ! lover of my soul, 

Let me to Thy bosom fly, 
While the raging billows roll, 

While the tempest still is high. 
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, 

Till the storm of life is past 
Safe into the haven guide, 

O, receive my soul at last ! 

Other refuge have I none, 
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee 

Leave, ah ! leave me not alone, 
Still support and comfort me. 



THE GENEROUS CONFESSION. 137 

All my trust on Thee is stayed, 

All my help from Thee I bring; 
Cover my defenceless head 

With the shadow of Thy wing I 

Thou, O Christ, art all I want, 

All in all in Thee I find, 
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, 

Heal the sick, and lead the blind. 
Just and holy is Thy name, 

I am all unrighteousness, 
Vile and full of sin I am, 

Thou art full of truth and grace. 

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, 

Grace to pardon all my sin ; 
Let the healing streams abound, 

Make and keep me pure within. 
Thou of life the fountain art, 

Freely let me take of Thee ; 
Spring Thou up within my heart, 

Rise to all eternity ! 

— Charles Wesley. 



XIII. THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES. 

" If 'tis sweet to mingle where 
Christians meet for social pray'r ; 
If 'tis sweet with them to raise 
Songs of holy joy and praise — 
Passing sweet that state must be, 
Where they meet eternally ! 

Freely and without a single word of re- 
proach, struggling with deepest emotion, did 
the injured father receive the poor, heart-broken, 
contrite Prodigal. In order to save his feelings, 
he even fore-stalled his humiliating prayer 
by hurriedly embracing him, and imprinting 
on his parched lips the kiss of peace. And he 
still further indicated the boundlessness of his 
compassion and the overflowing exuberance of 
his joy, by requesting the servants to bring 
forth the "best," or, as it might be rendered, the 
"first robe" — that robe, which, by his sad de- 
parture, he had forfeited, but was now restored 
to him again. The "ring," also, the token of 
reconciliation and peace, had to be put on his 
138 



THE WELCOME-nOME FESTIVITIES. 139 

finger; and the "shoes" — the significant sym- 
bol or "preparation of the gospel of peace" — 
must be put on his feet. Thus far the testimo- 
nials of his reconciliation were most ample and 
assuring; but, still, something more was neces- 
sary to complete this picture of gladness and 
joyous exultation. Hence the delighted father 
added: "And bring hither the fatted calf, and 
kill it; and let us eat and be merry." 

In these simple and unadorned expressions 
we have the beautiful welcome-home festivities 
brought to our notice. The extraordinary 
nature of these festivities required that the 
very best, which the now re-established and 
joyous home afforded, should be brought forth 
to give dignity and eclat to the solemn occasion. 
Here, indeed, we have in earthly form, what, 
in similar circumstances, is said to take place 
in the sphere of the spirit-world. "Likewise, 
I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of 
the angels of God over one sinner that repent- 
eth." Indeed, this idea of extraordinary re- 
joicing over the return of a poor sinner, runs 
through the whole course of divine revelation. 



140 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Everywhere the same representations are given 
in connection with the recovery of the lost and 
erring ones of earth. In the beautiful Parable 
of the "lost sheep," which is found in close 
connection with that of the Prodigal Son, we 
are informed, that, when the good shepherd, 
having found his straying sheep, "cometh 
home, he calleth together his friends and neigh- 
bors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I 
have found my sheep which was lost." And 
then Jesus goes on to say, "that likewise joy 
shall be in heaven over one sinner that repent- 
eth, more than over ninety and nine just persons 
which need no repentance." The same thing 
precisely is said in connection with the Parable 
of the "ten pieces of silver." When the "lost" 
piece, after the most intense anxiety and the 
greatest efforts, was at length found, the good 
woman of the house, to whom these pieces had 
been entrusted, in like manner, called together 
Tier "friends and neighbors," saying, Rejoice 
with me ; for I have found the piece which I 
had lost." Then immediately follows the ex- 
plicit declaration of the Saviour, which we 



THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES. 141 

have already cited, that " there is joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth." 

These two cognate Parables bear a very 
strong resemblance to each other; and, yet, 
they differ, in some minor respects, very mate- 
rially. The former — that of the "lost sheep" 
being brought home, and causing joy in heaven 
— refers more immediately to the final in- 
gathering and future salvation of the sinner. 
Hence the scene of the rejoicing is above — in 
heaven. The latter — that of the "lost" piece 
being found, and causing "joy in the presence 
of the angels of God" — refers to the recovery 
of an erring one, stamped with the image of 
its sovereign, brought back to the communion 
of the Church militant. Hence the scene of 
the rejoicing is in the house of the woman, 
where the piece was lost — on earth. The 
angels, in whose presence the rejoicing takes 
place, are those blessed ones, "sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs of salva- 
tion." This two-fold joy — that in the Church 
militant, on earth, and that of the Church 



142 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

triumphant, in heaven, is fitly represented by 
the beautiful and touching picture of the joyous 
festivities in the home of the now restored and 
re-adopted Prodigal. And why should there 
not have been this grand jubilee in the house 
of the once more reconciled, re-united, and 
happy family? And, now, transferring these 
thrilling scenes of an earthly transaction to the 
spiritual and eternal world, with what unspeak- 
able joy and wondrous exultation will not the 
happy saints be finally welcomed and greeted, 
as they "enter in through the gates into the 
city," to take their allotted places around the 
eternal throne! In view of this glorious 
reception we are exhorted to make our "calling 
and election" sure. "For so," says the Apostle, 
"an entrance shall be ministered unto you 
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

The reasons for this extraordinary rejoicing 
were, in the opinion of the delighted father, 
amply sufficient to justify all that had been 
contemplated. "For this my son was dead, 
and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." 



THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES. 143 

It has been truly said that the recovery of 
anything which has been lost, occasions far 
greater satisfaction and more intense pleasure 
than what the simple possession of the same 
object naturally affords. Why it is so, it may 
not be easy for us to explain; but the fact 
itself is well-known and universally acknow- 
ledged. In the Parables of the "lost sheep/' 
and of the "ten pieces of silver," this idea is 
brought out very strongly. The joy over one 
"sinner," who repented, and thus came back 
again to the deserted home, was greater, we are 
told, than that experienced over the "ninety 
and nine just persons," who needed no repen- 
tance, and, consequently, were not recovered 
from peril or loss. Thus the Parable of the 
"lost sheep," and that of the Prodigal Son 
mutually illustrate and explain each other; 
and, at the same time, furnish a key- for the 
just appreciation of those extraordinary scenes 
which shall characterize the final ingathering 
of the saints, in Heaven. Isaiah, after speaking 
of the way of salvation by which the saints are 
to be brought onward and upward in their 



144 gift-book: for the million. 

spiritual course, says very beautifully: "And 
the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and 
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy 
upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and 
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee 
away." So, also, those myriads of blessed ones, 
whom St. John saw, in vision, "standing before 
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and palms in their hands," he tells 
us, " shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor 
any heat : for the Lamb, which is in the midst 
of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead 
them unto living fountains of water; and God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

This particular description of the exuberant 
joy that is experienced in the heavenly world, 
is understood to refer mainly, if not exclusively, 
to the saints themselves, who have been re- 
deemed from among men, and "have washed 
their robes, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb.' 7 But these exulting saints are 
mentioned in close proximity with the other 
inhabitants of the heavenly world. St. John, 



THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES. 145 

speaking of the victorious and now ingathored 
saints, "clothed with white robes, and palms in 
their hands/' saying, "Salvation to our God 
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
Lamb," immediately adds — "and all the angels 
stood round about the throne, and about the el- 
ders and the four beasts, — the living ones — and 
fell before the throne on their faces, and wor- 
shipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and 
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and 
honor, and power, and might, be unto our God 
for ever and ever: Amen." 

A still more beautiful and sublime picture of 
the united and joyous worship in heaven is 
drawn by the same hand : " The four beasts and 
four and twenty elders," he tells us, "fell down 
before the Lamb, having every one of them 
harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are 
the prayers of saints. And they sung a new 
song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the 
book," — containing the mysteries of Providence 
— "and to open the seals thereof: for Thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by 
Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
7 



146 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

people, and nation; and hast made us unto our 
God kings and priests : and we shall reign on 
the earth. And I beheld ; and I heard the voice 
of many angels round about the throne, and 
the beasts, and the elders, and the number of 
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
thousands of thousands, saying with a loud 
voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. 
And every creature which was in heaven, and 
on the earth, and under the earth, hnd such as 
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I 
saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. 
And the four beasts" — representatives of uni- 
versal nature — "said, Amen. And the four 
and twenty elders fell down and worshipped 
Him that liveth for ever and ever." 

In this sublime and touching description of 
the heavenly worship, we have a faint and im- 
perfect glimpse afforded us into the eternal 
world, and, in imagination, are made to hear 



THE WELCOME-HOME FESTIVITIES. 147 

the united songs of the redeemed from among 
men, and of the angels, and of the universal 
living world, above and beneath, — all mingling 
together in one overpowering flood of adoring 
praise and exultation over the redemption of 
men, in Christ Jesus our Lord ! 

The feelings of the poor Prodigal, now fully 
reconciled and restored to his forfeited privi- 
leges, had undergone great and radical changes. 
He had, finally, emerged from the darkness 
and confusion of the past, and come into broad 
day-light — *the sweet and blessed dawn of a new 
and better life. In view of this gracious 
change and present peace, and in view, also, of 
what it promised him in the future, when all 
his painful wanderings should cease finally in 
heaven, he could not well find language, in 
which to express his feelings and wishes more 
appropriately than that furnished by one of our 
most genial and popular Hymns, which, in part, 
we here append, for the comfort and encourage- 
ment of all such as are in like circumstances. 

The charm of this beautiful composition, and 
its power to comfort the weary wanderer, con- 



148 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

sist in its positive promise and glowing 
description of that future "rest" which re- 
maineth for the people of God — the sweet and 
blessed rest of Heaven. Listen to the gentle, 
soothing, fascinating strains of the sorrowing 
bard : 

There is an hour of peaceful rest 

To mourning wanderers giv'n ; 
There is a tear for souls distrest, 
A balm for every wounded breast, 

'Tis found alone— in heaven. 

There is a home for weary souls, 
By sin and sorrow driv'n ; % 

When tossed on life's tempestuous shoals, , 

Where storms arise and ocean rolls, 
And all is drear— but heaven. 

There faith lifts up the tearless eye, 

The heart with anguish riv'n ; 
It views the tempest passing by, 
The evening shadows quickly fly, 

And all serene — in heav'n. 

There fragrant flow'rs immortal bloom, 

And joys supreme are giv'n ; 
There joys divine disperse the gloom, 
Beyond the dark and narrow tomb 

Appears the dawn— of heav'n. 



XIV. SAFELY HOUSED, OR "HOME AGAIN." 

"Now safely moor'd, my perils o'er, 

I'll sing first in night's diadem, 
For ever and for evermore, 
The star— the Star of Bethlehem ! " 

After many strange adventures abroad, and 
much physical suffering, accompanied with 
deep and prolonged "mental anguish, the poor, 
homeless, and weary wanderer, at length, finds 
himself back again to the sweet home of his 
childhood and early youth. Many things, 
indeed, had changed since he had last seen that 
much-loved and cherished spot. Among the 
inmates of the house were many that had not 
been there when he left for the far off country ; 
but assuredly one thing was not changed. The 
dear old home was the very same to him now, 
as it was, when, in childish glee and innocent 
sports, he there enjoyed himself, and also made 
all others glad around that hallowed spot. 
And what was of far more account to him now, 
was, that the sweet spirit of love and meek- 

149 



150 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

eyed charity was still in full force there. 
Hence his own warm and joyous reception; 
hence, also, that stirring scene of hearty and 
universal rejoicing, which signalized his return 
and re-admission to the paternal mansion. 

With all the sad evidences of his guilt and 
of his deep degradation upon him, he was most 
cordially received and cheerfully recognized as 
one of the happy household. Every one 
seemed eager to show him some special act of 
kindness and respect, in order to assure him of 
his perfect welcome. To this universal re- 
joicing, and generous emulation among the 
members of the dear old home, to excel in 
kindness and friendly offices towards the re-ad- 
mitted Prodigal, there was but one exception; 
and even that one sad exception may, perhaps, 
have been necessary in order to exhibit in the 
strongest possible light the many good and 
noble qualities of heart and mind which came 
to the surface in connection with this joyous 
event. 

Leaving out of view, for the moment, the 
strange and unaccountable behavior of the elder 



SAFELY HOUSED. 151 

son, let us look in upon the delighted company 
inside of the happy home. We have already 
seen with what feelings of sacred transport and 
ecstatic joy the father had met and welcomed 
his son back again to his heart and to his home. 
The same feeling prevailed, also, among all the 
inmates of the house. What a beautiful and 
encouraging example of united feeling and 
action is here shown ! How worthy of imita- 
tion ! But the earthly home, and the human 
virtues and graces, here displayed, were in- 
tended mainly to represent things heavenly and 
divine. And that wondrous love, especially, 
which could overlook the failings of the Prodi- 
gal, and rejoice in the opportunity of pardoning 
his many sins and infirmities, is but a faint 
image of that boundless love, which, in furnish- 
ing us a Saviour, now also exults in the pardon 
of our sins, and in the full restoration of our 
souls to the divine favor and benediction. 

In the mysterious depths of this same for- 
giving love, as humanly exercised in favor of 
the Prodigal, does he also now feel himself 
happy and unabashed in the very home which 



152 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

he once so ingloriously abandoned, as unworthy 
of his presence. In the freeness and fullness of 
his pardon, and amidst the manifold displays 
of this precious grace, he feels no shame, expe- 
riences no strangeness, and dreads no displea- 
sure from his father. 

And, in this happy circumstance or series of 
circumstances, we have an expressive image 
and prophecy of that diviner love, and larger 
mercy, which we were, in our day, to experience 
in connection with the Church of Christ and 
its blessed communion of Saints. Here already, 
accordingly, we are made "to sit together in 
heavenly places, in Christ." But the fullness 
of this love, and the perfect bliss which it in- 
spires, are reserved for that consummated com- 
munion of the saints, which awaits us in the 
world to come. Of this, however, we have 
already spoken, in the preceding section, when 
reviewing the vision of St. John — beholding 
through the open heavens those countless mil- 
lions of blessed saints "arrayed in white robes/ 1 
emblems of purity and bliss, " with palms in their 
hands," expressive signs of conflict and of victory! 



SAFELY HOUSED. 153 

What a contrast between these " shining 
ones" in glory, with their snowy garments and 
waving palms, and the same shining ones, when, 
contending with sin, and struggling manfully 
with the powers of evil, they were still " stran- 
gers and pilgrims" on earth — weary wanderers 
in this valley of tears. All these things, how- 
ever, are beautifully brought out in a familiar 
Hymn for which I beg to make room here. 

" SWEET HOME." 
An alien from God, and a stranger to grace, 
I wandered thro' earth, its gay pleasures to trace ; 
In the path-way of sin I continued to roam, 
Unmindful, alas ! that it led me from home. 

Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; 

O Saviour, direct me to heaven, my home. 

The pleasures of earth I have seen fade away, 
They bloom for a season, but soon they decay ; 
But pleasures more lasting, in Jesus are given, 
Salvation on earth, and a mansion in heaven. 

Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; 

The saints in those mansions are ever at home. 

Allure me no longer, ye false-glowing charms, 
The Saviour invites me, I'll go to His arms; 
At the banquet of mercy I hear there is room, 
O there may I feast with His children at home! 

Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; 

O Jesus, conduct me to heaven, my home ! 

7* 



154 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Farewell, vain amusements, my follies adieu, 
While Jesus, and heaven, and glory I view; 
I feast on the pleasures that flow from his throne, 
The foretastes of heaven, sweet heaven, my home ! 
Home, home, sweet, sweet home, 
O when shall I share the fruition of home I 

The days of my exile are passing away, 
The time is approaching, when Jesus will say, 
"Well done, faithful servant, sit down on my throne, 
And dwell in my presence for ever at home." 
Home, home, sweet, sweet home, 
O there shall I rest with the Saviour at home! 

Affliction, and sorrow, and death shall be o'er, 
The saints shall unite to be parted no more ; 
There, loud hallelujahs fill heaven's high dome, 
They dwell with the Saviour for ever at home. 

Home, home, sweet, sweet home ; 

They dwell with the Saviour for ever at home ! 



XV. THE KEVEKSE PICTURE. 

" I love to know that not alone 
I meet the battle's angry tide ; 
That sainted myriads from the throne 
Descend to combat at my side." 

We now enter upon a new and somewhat 
peculiar part of our general subject. We have, 
here, a kind of codicil or supplement, super- 
added to the main body of the Parable, and 
bringing into view a class of ideas, in some 
respects, entirely different from those which 
enter into the former part of the story. It 
might appear, at first sight, as if this additional 
item threw a dark and ominous cloud over the 
entire picture, and effectually marred its beauty 
and integrity. The envious and unamiable 
spirit of the elder son, as this is brought out 
very strongly in the several images, or different 
parte of the same general image, which are now 
in review before us, appears so unseemly in 
itself, and so utterly inconsistent and at variance 

155 



156 # GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

with the genial and transcendently beautiful 
and charming spirit, that pervades the former 
part of the Parable, that it makes a very- 
unfavorable impression upon the mind of the 
reader. 

There is, however, another view of the case, 
which, as we proceed with our remarks, will 
conduct us to wholly different and more cheer- 
ing results. For, as a dark and moonless night 
exhibits the starry firmament with an effulgence 
of light and beauty which does not belong to it 
under any other circumstances, so this dark 
back-ground, in the Parable of the Prodigal 
Son, only serves to bring out and exhibit the 
exquisite beauties of the earlier portion of it 
with a splendor and power which could be seen 
in no other way. In this view of the case, as 
we shall see, that dark shadow, which, at 
first sight, seems so unnatural and perfectly 
incongruous, proves to be one of the best and 
most effectual means of setting before us in 
proper light the hidden and incomparable beau- 
ties of the Parable. Hence we do not blame 
our blessed Saviour for making this addition ; 



THE REVERSE PICTURE. 157 

but rather admire the infinite wisdom that could 
so effectually bring light from darkness, and 
beauty from deformity — that could teach us 
lessons of the highest importance by means of 
the most unlovely pictures. 

Or, look at the subject in another and differ- 
ent point of view. The younger son had his 
good and his bad qualities — his virtues and his 
vices. Both of these peculiarities come out 
strikingly in the progress of the story, which, 
with such singular power and effect, recounts 
the several items that enter into his eventful 
history. The unseemly discontent and hasty 
recklessness which characterize the earlier part 
of his life ; the hasty eagerness to get posses- 
sion of his portion of the paternal estate ; his 
determination soon after permanently to leave 
the old home with its endearments, " gathering 
all together," and going into a far country; his 
dissipated course of life in that new and distant 
home ; and even his desperate expedient of bind- 
ing himself unconditionally to a citizen of that 
strange country; — all these several items bear 
testimony, strong and convincing, to that ardent 



158 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

temperament and deep feeling which gave such 
wonderful decision and power to his actions, 
and imparted such beauty and fascination to 
the story of his subsequent penitence, and re- 
turn to the home of his youth. The earlier 
and later portions of his erratic life mutually 
explain and illustrate each other. With all his 
good qualities, which appear especially in con- 
nection with his deep contrition, his firm and 
generous resolution to return again to the home 
of his injured father, and make confession unto 
him of his crying sin, humbly begging for a 
place among his hired-servants; and, finally, 
his prompt execution of this noble resolve; — 
with all these good things, it must be confessed, 
there were connected some very bad and dan- 
gerous elements. 

So in the case of the elder son, there were also 
some few very good and praise-worthy qualities 
found connected with what was low and disre- 
putable in his character and conduct; and the 
supplement, with which we are now concerned, 
will serve to bring ojit these peculiarities, and, 
thus exhibit in his two-fold character, as well 



TIIE REVERSE PICTURE. 159 

as in that of the younger son, our fallen nature 
in all its elements of deep degradation and 
■t'ul deformity. 

In this view of the case, we shall find our 
meditations on this portion of the Parable to be 
equally as interesting and profitable as those on 
the main body of the story. "What we espe- 
cially want is an enlightened eye, in order to 
see the wise and gracious design of our Saviour 
in thus forming so dark and dismal a back- 
ground, on which to exhibit in clearer light and 
brighter glory the matchless grace and beauty of 
the Divine love and compassion. We shall see that 
the humble and subdued spirit of the contrite 
Prodigal stands out in broad and striking con- 
trast with the proud and envious spirit of the 
elder son. And this same unamiable spirit 
serves, also, as an occasion for the exercise of 
the meek and gentle spirit of the injured father 
— for his long-suffering and forbearance. 

The two parts of the Parable will, thus, com- 
plete each other, and bring out the wondrous 
power and charms of the story in the strongest 
conceivable colors. Indeed one of the most 



160 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MHJJON. 

beautiful traits in the character an,d conduct 
of the father could not possibly have been 
brought out, had not the selfishness and imper- 
tinence of the elder son furnished the occasion; 
we mean the patience, long-suffering, and for- 
bearance, which the bitter and reproachful 
language, and unjust accusation of the elder 
son called forth. 

It was this particular feature in the conduct 
of the ingrate son, that, in the first instance, 
elicited that beautiful answer of the hired 
servant to the suspicious inquiry as to "what 
these things meant;" namely, "thy brother is 
come, and thy father hath killed the fatted 
calf, because he hath received him safe and 
sound." But for the coming in of the elder 
son, these words would, probably, never have 
been spoken. And then, too, we must carefully 
note the fact, that, after hearing this statement, 
accounting for the extraordinary scenes of 
rejoicing within, the elder son "was angry, and 
would not go in." This brought about another 
scene, which, in our further discussion, will 
come before us; namely this, that, when this 



TIIE REVERSE riCTURE. 1G1 

strange and unnatural conduct was reported 
within, it caused the greatest surprise; "there- 
fore came his father out and entreated him." 

What a world of rich and profitable instruc- 
tion would have been lost to us, had not the 
elder son been thus introduced to our notice. 
In that case, we would not have had that 
striking exhibition of the paternal goodness, 
and patience, and long-suffering, which are 
brought out in the subsequent part of the 
history. And, inasmuch as this whole history, 
and, indeed, all historical representations of the 
sacred Scriptures, whether real or assumed, are 
intended to bring up and exhibit our own 
character and conduct, we have here a powerful 
weapon put into our hands — a strong base on 
which to found an appeal to ourselves and to 
others. Hear the Apostle: "And thinkest 
thou this, man, that judgest them which do 
such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt 
escape the judgment of God? Or, despisest 
thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, 
and long-suffering; not knowing that the good- 
ness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" 



162 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Aside from what has just been said, we may 
also state, that, owing to the envious spirit of 
the elder son, the sympathy and kindly interest 
of the hired servants, and other guests, then 
present, as well as the deeper, purer, and holier 
love and sympathy of the devoted father, were 
brought to the full consciousness of the re- 
claimed Prodigal. This circumstance, at once, 
inspired him with confidence, in view of his 
conflicts, as expressed in the lines at the head 
of this section; and, also, incited him to earn- 
est, humble, and persevering prayer, as this 
comes out in the beautiful lines, which, without 
knowing who is their author, we here append. 
They are exactly what the poor Prodigal may 
be supposed to have needed, to sustain him in 
the terrible shock which he was to receive in 
that unexpected explosion of the proud and 
scornful spirit of his elder brother. They are, 
also, exactly what we need, in similar circum- 
stances, to address to our God and Father 
in Christ. — 

I cannot let Thee go without Thy blessing ! 
My heart is heavy with its weight of care> 



THE REVERSE FICTURE. 1G3 

And unbelief, a myriad fears suggesting, 

Makes the burden mora than I ean bear. 
But as Thy servant in the ancient story, 

Strove with the angel until break of day, 
So will I agonize, my God, before Thee : 

So 'mid the darkness, will I strive and pray! 

My heart is sinful ; but I plead the merit 

Of Him who on the cross of Calvary died ; 
My strength is weakness, but my weary spirit 

Flies to its refuge, Christ the crucified. 
My foes are strong, but my dear Lord hath risen, 

And liveth now to intercede for me; 
My faith grows bolder, as I claim Thy promise ; 

I can do all things, if Thou strengthen me! 

Yes, while I plead, the gloomy shadows vanish: 

The clouds uplift; the day begins to break ! 
O, weary heart, the joyous morning cometh; 

Thy God hath blessed thee, for thy Saviour's sake! 
My quiet chamber hath become a Bethel ; 

The spot whereon I kneel is holy ground ; 
For 'mid the darkness and the Spirit's conflict, 

A very present help,niy God I've found. 

— Watchman <£ Reflector. 



What a beautiful complement of these words 
of penitence and faith do we find in the follow- 
ing exquisite lines on suffering and sorrow, in 
the case of God's children, and "the glory that- 
shall be revealed" in them at the last day. — 



164 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

"The heavier cross, the heartier prayer; 
The bruised herbs most fragrant are ; 
If wind and sky were always fair, 

The sailor would not watch the star ; 
And David's Psalms had ne'er been sung, 
If grief his heart had never wrung." 



■■«♦♦♦ »- 



Deem not that they are blessed alone, 

Whose days a peaceful tenor keep; 
The God, who loves our race, has shown 

A blessing for the eyes that weep; 
For God hath marked each sorrowing day, 

And numbered every secret tear, 
And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay 

For all his children suffer here. , 

— Bbtant. 



XVI. the puzzle; or, painful surprise. 

" When man grows bold in sin, 

My heart within me cries 
He hath no faith of God within, 
Nor fear before his eyes." 

The significant story of the elder son, and 
the cause of his painful surprise and subsequent 
displeasure at what was transpiring in the house, 
are related in very simple and expressive terms. 
" Now his elder son was in the field : and as he 
came, and drew nigh to the house, he heard 
music and dancing." 

What strikes us, first, in connection with this 
account, as worthy of notice, is the fact that the 
elder son had been spending the day in the field 
— in honorable industry. This is one of the 
good and praiseworthy things in his history, the 
absence of which in the case of the younger son, 
may possibly explain his early discontent, and 
subsequent desertion of the paternal mansion; 
and it may, also, at the same time, explain the 

165 



166 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

cause of the elder son's extreme virulence of 
feeling and serious dissatisfaction with what he 
found was going on at the house — the welcome- 
home festivities ! 

That industry, and an honorable and lucra- 
tive calling, are among the greatest of earthly- 
blessings, and among the most effectual causes 
for preventing a sinful discontent, and the 
temptation to forsake home, and lead a roving 
and unsettled life abroad, I think, needs no ex- 
tended proof. It is not only the common ex- 
perience of all idle men universally, but also 
the uniform testimony of history, that where 
industry and constant employment are wanting, 
there the way is open for the ready intrusion 
of a restless, discontented, and soured spirit, 
which, unless checked by some very efficient 
force, will sooner or later break out in some 
form or other of open sin and trangression. 
Hence, the peculiar stress laid upon industry 
in the oracles of Divine truth, and their severe 
reprehension of idleness and waste of time. In 
the decalogue itself this fact comes out very 
prominently. " Eemember the Sabbath day to 



THE rUZZLE. 167 

keep it holy," says the fourth commandment, 
"six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy 
work." 

To keep the Sabbath day "holy" is more a 
great deal than to abstain from labor, and avoid 
profane and common employments. If such 
abstinence from labor alone were required in 
that commandment, it would, in our estimation, 
subserve but a very poor purpose, and possibly 
occasion much more evil than good; idleness 
being immeasurably worse than honorable labor, 
even on the Sabbath day. But neither the one 
nor the other alternative will answer the require- 
ments of the law, as distinctly expressed in this 
fourth commandment. The day is to be kept 
"holy," or to be spent in the exercises of reli- 
gion and piety, in the service of God and to His 
honor. And so of the oilier days : especially, in 
the light of the clear and explicit declaration 
immediately following this principal expression, 
does this duty of laboring come out distinctly. 
"Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy 
work." This is equally as positive and peremp- 
tory, and, we may add, equally as important, 



168 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

as that portion of the command which requires 
us to abstain from labor on the seventh day ; 
and ; if we are bound to keep the one part, then 
we are equally bound to keep the other part 
also. If it is our solemn duty to lay aside all 
our worldly cares and every-day employments, 
one day in seven, because God so commands it, 
then we are also equally bound to take up and 
faithfully perform the labor, which, in our 
several circumstances, falls to our lot, because 
God just as decidedly commands this as the 
former. 

That the elder son is said to have been in the 
field, therefore, was not done simply to make 
room for his coming home, ignorant of what 
had been transpiring, and so being taken by 
surprise, but, also, in order that ordinary labor 
and industry might be commended to us by the 
example of this son of an honorable and 
wealthy family. For such, assuredly, the 
family required to be, in order to serve, in all 
respects, fitly to represent the kingdom of God, 
and its blessed economy. And can we despise 
labor ourselves, or discourage it in others by 



THE TUZZLE. 169 

treating it with secret scorn, or possibly with 
open contempt? Can we innocently depreciate 
and openly neglect that which is so clearly 
enjoined upon us in the decalogue, and warmly 
commended to our hearts and minds by the 
example of our adorable Eedeemer? By His 
example, in working with His reputed parent, 
at Nazareth, He put the highest conceivable 
honor upon honest and useful labor; and thus 
virtually pronounced a silent benediction upon 
the weary sons of toil. He, therefore, who 
conscientiously improves his time, in working 
day by day, and thus seeks to make an honest 
and honorable living for himself and family, 
is to be counted among God's truest and fairest 
noblemen. On the other hand, we must con- 
demn, unconditionally and without mercy, those 
who wilfully and deliberately waste their 
precious hours in ignoble and degrading idle- 
ness ! They are among the most dishonorable 
of the sons of men, and also among the most 
unfortunate — generally the unhappy victims of 
discontent, or the helpless slaves of lust and 
passion; while habits of industry always bring 
8 



170 GIFT-BOOK FOB THE MILLION. 

the spirit of sweet peace and contentment into 
the heart of the laborer, and shed beauty and 
loveliness over his sun-burnt countenance ! 

Despise not, then, the elder son, nor judge 
too harshly of him, who, as "he came, and 
drew nigh to the house," heard, with momen- 
tary surprise and dissatisfaction, the "music 
and dancing" within. It was something to 
which he was evidently not accustomed. His 
error in this instance, though highly censurable 
and blameworthy, was not altogether unnatural. 
How often is the same mistake repeated at the 
present day, and under far less excusable 
circumstances! How many, otherwise good 
and honest people, immediately fly into a 
passion, and are filled with bitter prejudice, 
when they meet with anything, that, in the 
least degree, deviates from the old and beaten 
track to which they have been accustomed ! 

What practical lesson, then, can we learn 
from this unfortunate conduct in the case of 
the elder son? Clearly this; that we learn to 
exercise prudence and moderation — that we 
guard against hasty and intemperate action in 



THE TUZZLE. 171 

every respect, cand especially in things pertain- 
ing to the kingdom of God. "Prove all things," 
- the Apostle St. Paul, "hold fast that which 
is good." And, 0, how much shame and regret 
we might save ourselves, and pain and heart- 
burnings among our fellow-men, by following 
this simple, just, and equitable rule! How 
much more smoothly and pleasantly we might 
get along in the world, if, in every instance of 
doubt or uncertainty, we would calmly and 
dispassionately consider- the whole subject — 
even repeatedly if need be — before coming to a 
decision, and committing ourselves to what is 
wrong and ruinous ! In the light of our own 
past experience, and in the light of the expe- 
rience of other men, let us learn to be cautious 
— to exercise modesty and care in forming an 
opinion, and insisting upon having it adopted 
by others. Let us, especially, deprecate harsh 
and uncharitable judgments in reference to the 
highest and holiest interests of life — the 
interests of religion ! 

The conduct of the elder son, however, 
contains another element of great practical 



172 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

value and power in our intercourse with our 
fellow-men. Although taken by surprise, and 
overcome with a feeling of strangeness and 
secret suspicion, he, yet, acted rationally in 
that "he called one of the servants, and asked 
what these things meant." In this particular, 
his conduct is admirable, and deserving of our 
highest praise. He evidently restrained his 
rising suspicions, and so far controlled his 
excited feelings, as to be able to ask calmly and 
intelligently, what these extraordinary scenes 
and strange proceedings indicated. This con- 
duct is in strong and favorable contrast with 
what we frequently have to witness in the 
conduct of men now-a-days, and even in the 
conduct of Christians. Diligently and mod- 
estly to inquire into the meaning and intention 
of any strange and unusual conduct, is the best 
possible way to avoid conflict with our fellow- 
men, on the one hand, and the adoption of false 
and dangerous principles and maxims of life, 
for ourselves, on the other hand. In the sphere 
of religion, especially, should we exercise the 
greatest and most unremitting caution. Here 



THE PUZZLE. 173 

error is fatal. Interests of infinite value and 
unutterable solemnity are here at stake ; and a 
single wrong step in the beginning may prove 
fetal to our best interests for time and eternity. 
Seek, then, to avoid the fatal rock on which so 
many have already suffered shipwreck. " For 
what shall it profit a. man if he shall gain the 
whole world, and lose his own soul; or what 
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" 

* WATCH AND PRAY." 

My soul, be on thy guard, 

Ten thousand foes arise ; 
And hosts of sins are pressing hard, 

To draw thee from the skies. 

O watch, and fight, and pray, 

The battle ne'er give o'er ; 
Renew it boldly every day, 

And help divine implore. 

Ne'er think the vict'ry won, 

Nor once at ease sit down ; 
Thy arduous work will not be done 

Till thou hast got thy crown. 

Fight on, my soul, till death 

Shall bring thee to thy God; 
He'll take thee at thy parting breath. 

Up to His blest abode. 



XVII. THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 

" O may we feel each brother's sigh, 
And with him bear a part ; 
May sorrow flow from eye to eye, 
And joy from heart to heart." 

The inquiry made of the servant, as to what 
was the meaning of this extraordinary rejoicing 
in the house, was dictated, partly, by the honest 
desire to ascertain the cause of this strange and 
unwonted proceeding, and, partly by a kind of 
secret and instinctive suspicion that something 
wrong and unjustifiable was going on within. 
Hence, as Professor Trench remarks, he called 
one of the servants, instead of going right into 
the house, and taking it for granted that what- 
ever the father did was right and proper. 
There certainly is some ground for this remark, 
as is sufficiently shown by the subsequent con- 
duct of the elder son; which was in the highest 
degree unbecoming and criminal, and led to the 
most serious consequences. 

The history of the elder son — the representa- 
174 



THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 175 

tive of a numerous and influential class of per- 
sons — is intimately associated with a certain 
measure of infamy, which will be perpetuated 
to the end of time. But, as we have already 
spoken of his dubious conduct, we shall not pur- 
sue this line of remark any farther, than simply 
to call attention to the fact, that, in certain cir- 
cumstances, the most trivial acts of men may 
lead to consequences the most far-reaching and 
important in their ultimate results. If it be 
true, what philosophers assert, that a force, once 
put in motion, can never wholly cease being 
felt, then it follows, that, by a single act, which, 
at the time, may appear of very little conse- 
quence, we may continue to work for weal or 
for woe, not only in this life, but also through- 
out the endless ages of eternity. " Behold, how 
great a matter a little fire kindleth," says St. 
James. Upon the incarnation of the Son of 
God, and His brief ministry, and atoning work 
upon the Cross, is suspended the blessedness of 
countless myriads of souls, down even to the 
ages of ages ! On such wondrous influences no 
mere man may ever count; and, yet, in some 



176 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

measure, our life and history will also be found 
to go down to the ages ; fraught with their 
necessary and legitimate fruits ! In view of 
this fact, so important in itself, and of such 
deep and thrilling interest in its relation to our 
life and actions, we should exercise the utmost 
care and circumspection in the regulation of 
our conduct. "It must needs be that offences 
come ; but woe unto that man by whom the 
offence cometh!" 

To the suspicious, and, yet, rational inquiry 
of the elder son, the servant promptly and 
most beautifully replied : " Thy brother is come ; 
and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, 
because he hath received him safe and sound." 

What perfect honesty and admirable simpli- 
city are seen to characterize this reply of the 
servant ! His words, independent of their con- 
nection with this special history, deserve to be 
treasured up in our hearts, and thoroughly 
studied. If, as is altogether likely, the servant 
saw the drift of the question, and, perhaps, 
correctly opined the excited and angry feelings 
which rankled in the bosom of the elder son, 



THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 177 

and were betrayed by bis ruffled and distorted 
countenance, he certainly exhibited great self- 
possession, and evenness of temper, in the reply 
which he made. From them we may learn a 
valuable lesson of candor, politeness, and 
condescension. They set before the exasperated 
questioner, in beautiful and conciliating terms, 
the cause of the unwonted rejoicings; and, 
though they failed to accomplish the object 
contemplated, they, at least, served to try the 
spirit of which the elder son was possessed, and 
to bring to the surface the hidden evil that 
lurked in his heart. In this respect they 
served an important purpose; and, by the 
ill-tempered speech which they elicited, brought 
into the foreground the unfathomable depths 
of the Divine love and compassion, as these are 
imaged forth, and strikingly exhibited in the 
meek and patient reply of the indulgent father. 
The language of the servant, in regard to 
the younger son, that he was received "safe 
and sound," differs materially from that em- 
ployed by the father, to set forth the same 
general truth, as a cause of rejoicing: "For 
8* 



178 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

this my son was dead, and is alive again; he 
was lost, and is found." On this characteristic 
difference in the two accounts, Archbishop 
Trench, with his usual care, remarks: "How 
nice is the observance of all the lesser pro- 
prieties of the narration. The father, in the 
midst of all his natural affection, is yet full of 
the moral significance of his son's return — that 
he has come back another person from what he 
was when he went, or while he tarried in that 
far land; he sees into the deep of his joy, that 
he is receiving him indeed as a son, once dead 
but now alive, once lost to him and to God, but 
now found alike by both. But the servant 
confines himself to the more external features 
of the case, to the fact, that after all he has 
gone through of excess and hardship, his father 
has yet received him 'safe and sound/ Even 
if he could enter deeper into the matter, yet 
with a suitable discretion he confines himself 
to that which falls plainly under his and every 
one's eye." But though these words of the 
servant are less deeply significant than those of 
the father, still they are sufficiently beautiful 



THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 179 

and touching to excite in any ones bosom the 
most pleasurable sensations. And, yet, in the 
of the elder son, they had exactly the 
opposite effect They excited in him the most 
intei a, or, rather, served as 

an outward occasion to bring to the surface 
what had already been rankling in the heart, 
and ing for expression. 

What a picture this of the depth of human 
depravity, and of malice in the unregenerate 
heart ! Even the tender story of a lost and 
unfortunate brother's rescue and safe return 
could not awaken in that callous heart and 
unfeeling bosom the common sentiments of 
fraternal love and affection. The very great- 

- of that Providential mercy which brought 
baok the poor wanderer from a life of reckless 
'pation, seems to have served only the more 
to exasperate the unnatural brother and render 
him the L eptible of generous and 

brotherly feelin_ shall soon see how this 

ugly and utterly unjustifiable spirit maniiV- 
itself in harsh, and even reproachful, language 
towards his benevolent parent. Such a spirit 



180 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

of bitterness towards God and man is univer- 
sally characteristic of our fallen race ; and how 
utterly unfit are we, then, by nature to enter 
into the kingdom of God ! Whether, therefore, 
we are still out in the wide world and on the 
public high-way of sin, or whether we are in 
the church, externally, like this elder son, we 
are equally unfit for the Master's service, unless 
we be thoroughly " renewed in the spirit and 
temper of our minds," and thus conformed to 
the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. 

The Apostle, speaking to the Corinthians in 
regard to the fearful wickedness which pre- 
vailed in his day, and charging this hopeless 
depravity, and consequent corruption, upon all 
men universally, in so far as they are out of 
Christ, says — "And such were some of you: 
but ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are 
justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
by the Spirit of our God." Only when renewed 
by the Divine Spirit, therefore, and made new 
creatures in Christ, can we escape the unseemly 
and ugly spirit which we shall now be obliged 
to bring to your notice. Before doing so, 



THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 1S1 

however, we shall briefly refer to one other 
little circumstance which Bei U further to 

exasperate the already highly excited feelings 
of the unnatural son. "He wa3 angry/' we 
are told, "and would not go in: therefore came 
his father out and entreated him."' Nothing 
could exhibit more strongly the bitter feelings 
of the son, on the one hand, and the meek and 
patient spirit of the father, on the other, than 
36 expressive words. And do we not, in 
this little incident, discern the perversity of our 
own hearts, as well as the boundless love and 
deep compassion of our Heavenly Father! 
How often have we, also, stood without,' refu- 
sing to come into the banqueting hall, because 
this or that thing in the conduct of our 
brethren, or even in the dealings of our Hea- 
venly Father displeased us ! 

And, now, what can you, my brethren, 
for youi "8 rho, even to this very hour, are 

standing without and quarrelling with the v 
of God — possibly with the sweet and subduing 
love of the Father, that has brought a poor, 
weeping prodigal from the highways of sin into 



182 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

the House of God ! Why should you be dissat- 
isfied with the good Lord for exercising His eter- 
nal love so freely towards a poor broken-hearted 
penitent, returning from his criminal wander- 
ings, and seeking pardon and reconciliation 
with his God? Do you not know that this 
same eternal love is also the sole cause of your 
own continuance in the land of hope ? Were it 
not for this boundless compassion that fills the 
bosom of the Father, and flows out in ceaseless 
streams towards all His fallen creatures, judg- 
ment would be speedily executed upon you, and 
an end put to your criminal insubordination. 
Why, -then, will you continue to weary the Al- 
mighty by your sinful and unnatural conduct ? 
Why continue to refuse the kind and merciful 
invitation of the Saviour, speaking in accents 
of tenderest love, saying : " Come unto Me, all 
ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest ?" Why will you grieve that blessed 
Spirit, that so sweetly seeks to draw you to the 
cross, and fix your dying eyes upon Him whom 
you have pierced by your sins, — why, 0, why 
will you grieve this blessed Spirit of God ? 



THE MYSTERY SOLVED. 183 

"THEY Won, I) NOT COME." 

Ami is it true, that many fly 

The sound that bids my soul rejoice, 
And rather choose in sin to die, 

Than turn an ear to mercy's voice? 

Alas, for them — the day is near, 

When mercy will be heard no more ; 
Then will they ask in vain to hear 

The voice they would not hear before! 

With such, I own, I once appeared, 

But now I know how great their loss, 
For sweeter sounds were never heard, 

Than mercy utters from the cross ! 



XVIII. THE BITTEB SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 

" Free us from envy, scorn, and pride, 
Our wishes fix above ; 
May each his brother's failings hide, 
And show a brother's love." 

When the heart is once fairly under the in- 
fluence of passion, and fully resolved to be dis- 
satisfied, it is hard, indeed, and often next to 
impossible to divert it from its perverse and ar- 
bitrary course. Every new effort to appease 
the anger and allay the excited feelings of the 
passionate man is only an additional spur to his 
ungovernable temper, and serves to cause addi- 
ditional out-bursts of the pent-up fires within. 
It was thus in the present case. The gentle 
and kindly entreaty of the father excited and 
roused the angry spirit of the unnatural son to 
the highest pitch. The injured father, anxious- 
ly desirous to conciliate the son, exercised to- 
wards him the tenderest love ; but it touched 
not his callous heart. "And he, answering, 
184 



ilIE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 185 

said to his father, Lo, these many years do I 
re thee; neither transgressed I at any time 
thy commandment ; and yet thou never gavest 
me a kid, that I might make merry with my 
friends : but as soon as this thy son was come, 
which hath devoured thy living with harlots, 
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." 

" These many years do I serve thee." That, 
we think, was true so far as the simple fact of 
laboring in connection with the paternal home 
was concerned ; but, as to the spirit and temper 
in which this service was rendered, we cannot 
judge so favorably. The likelihood is, that, in 
this work, he served in the spirit of a crouching 
slave rather than in that of an affectionate and 
obedient son. His own words, in fact, say so 
much. He did not seem to suspect, at all, that 
the true relation of a son to his father is that 
of love, and of the most willing and cheerful 
obedience ; and, in no sense, simply an outward 
service, or series of acts, as he appeared to 
think. 

Let us see in this slavish service the image 
and type of that unwilling and groveling ser- 



186 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

vice which men so often render to God now-a- 
days. Influenced only by this low and degra- 
ding servitude, such men look upon their reli- 
gious duties as a burdensome task, and piety 
itself only as a means to the attainment of 
something else beyond itself. Hence they speak 
of their religious duties and pious exercises, not 
as the pleasant and spontaneous service of the 
heart, but as an imposition, rather, which is un- 
justly laid upon them. By far too . much of 
this low and unworthy kind of piety is found in 
the world, at the present day, and even in the 
ranks of the professed followers of the meek and 
lowly Jesus ! 

When the elder son passes on from the sim- 
ple claim of having served the beloved father 
for " many years," to the additional assertion : 
" neither transgressed I at any time thy com- 
mandment/' he likely goes beyond the bounds 
of strict and sober truth. Here, in all likeli- 
hood, comes out the true spirit of the self- 
righteous and boasting Pharisee, who, in his 
own eyes, doubtless felt himself perfectly in ac- 
cord with the Divine commands. But such 



THE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 187 

self-righteous boasting is of little account at any- 
time; and, especially so, when the storm of 
passion, which dictated the boastful statement, 
gave the lie to his profession. How singularly- 
like that sadly interesting scene, described by 
our Saviour, as having taken place in the tem- 
ple : " Two men went up into the temple to 
pray ; the one a Pharisee, and the other a pub- 
lican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus 
with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not 
as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the 
week ; I give tithes of all I possess. " In broad 
and striking contrast with this lofty and boast- 
ing prayer, or self-gratulation, rather, appears 
the humble and self-condemning prayer of the 
guilt-stricken publican, deeming himself unwor- 
thy of the Divine favor. " And the publican, 
standing afar off, would not lift up so much as 
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, 
saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner." 
This, in comparison with the other, seems to be 
but a very poor and insipid prayer ; and, yet, 
"this man went down to his house justified 



188 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

rather than the other : for every one that ex- 
alteth himself shall be abased; and he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted." Compared 
with the proud and boastful spirit of the 
Pharisee, how divinely fair and pleasing appears 
the gentle, unassuming, and subdued spirit of 
the true child of God, in whose swelling bosom 
dwells the spirit and power of a grateful 
recognition of God's pardoning love! How 
like the sweet and fragrant incense that burned 
upon the altar of God's ancient people, ascend- 
ing, in radiant and perfumed clouds, to the 
eternal throne ! 

But, from the foul and unnatural spirit of 
boasting and self-gratulation, the ungrateful son 
passed on to the use of words of bitter scorn 
and accusation: "And, yet, thou never gavest 
me a kid, that I might make merry with my 
friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, 
which hath devoured thy living with harlots, 
thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." 

We can hardly conceive of anything more 
perfectly unnatural and repulsive than this 
impudent and insulting address to the kind- 



THE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 189 

hearted father, whose benevolent heart was just 
then overflowing with grateful love and bound- 
less delight, in view of the safety of his beloved 
son. He charges his honored parent, in the 
first place, with heartless cruelty and penuri- 
ousness. "Thou never gavest me a kid." And 
this low and impertinent charge appears to be 
based upon another one, equally unwarranted 
and wicked, though not openly expressed; it is 
the charge of injustice — a non-recognition of 
his "many years" of meritorious service! 
"Neither transgressed I at any time thy 
commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a 
kid." Just as if his great merits had been 
wholly overlooked, and his eminent services left 
unrewarded. And, we now ask, is not this the 
spirit that universally prevails among unregen- 
erate men? They estimate very extravagantly 
their own deeds, while the divine goodness is 
but poorly appreciated, and still more poorly 
requited. If this unworthy and self-elating 
spirit were confined, wholly, or mainly even, to 
the uncovenanted world without, we might be 
disposed to pass it over slightly, as being per- 



190 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

fectly in harmony with the perverse and ingrate 
spirit that predominates among the "sons of 
men." But the matter becomes far more 
serious, when, as in the present case, this base 
and cowardly spirit is found within the sacred 
precincts of the Church of God, and among 
those who glory in the name of sons and daugh- 
ters of the Most High ! 

"That I might make merry with my friends/' 
says the ungrateful and embittered son. The 
object would have been well enough in itself; 
but the acrid spirit which is here manifested 
would not be likely either to gain many friends, 
or to realize much pleasure in the company of 
such, even if they were gained. And was he, 
indeed, never in the company of such friends, 
as were now holding a jubilee in the paternal 
mansion? Was he never in the society of that 
kind and gentle father, who formed the most 
prominent figure in that happy company? 
And, we may further ask, was he not in con- 
tinual and freest communication with those 
genial spirits who were now rejoicing with the 
happy father, jubilant over the return of the 



THE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 191 

Prodigal? Alas! the spirit of genuine merry- 
making was altogether wanting in him, and it 
is not likely that such an idea would ever have 
entered into his dreamy head, had it not served 
him such an admirable purpose, in the matter 
of reviling and insulting his parent, in this hour 
of his exultant joy. And how many of those 
who presume to insult the majesty of Heaven 
really do carry in them the elements of that 
blessedness, the felt absence of which they 
improve for the abuse of their Maker ! Alas ! 
their complaints are a mere sham — excuses for 
their own want of fidelity ! 

"But as soon as this thy son was come, which 
hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou 
hast killed for him the fatted calf." This is a 
two-fold insult, aimed, indeed, principally at the 
father, but striking, also, with terrible force the 
unhappy brother, whom he charges, without 
any further inquiry, or the slightest sign of 
compassionate sympathy or regret, with having 
"devoured" the father's living, in the company 
of harlots. The charge may possibly have 
been true, and it may not; for it is not likely, 



192 . GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

that, in his blind fury, the unnatural brother 
would take much pains to inquire into the true 
state of the case. All he wanted was to have 
a gnarled and heavy cudgel with which to 
strike his already injured father a telling blow; 
and this he found most readily in magnifying 
the crime of his brother, and then charging 
upon the benevolent father the crime of exces- 
sive indulgence towards this unworthy object! 

What a mean and dastardly spirit is this ! 
and, yet, it is comparatively insignificant, when 
brought up along side of the base ingratitude 
and cruel scorn which men often exhibit towards 
Him who is the true and universal "Father of 
all them that are called children in heaven and 
on earth." How much better it would be for 
all such to say with the poor Prodigal, "Father, 
I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, 
and am no more worthy to be called thy son." 

Penitence and faith, however, are not charac- 
teristic of such as the elder son. They deal in 
wormwood and in gall much more freely than 
in myrrh and frankincense — in bitter invectives 
and unjust accusations far more liberally than 



THE BITTER SCORN AND ACCUSATION. 193 

iu love and charity. From the impiety and 
heartless cruelty of such the children of God, 
like the younger son, seek refuge under the 
sheltering wing of the Almighty. 

"THE MERCY-SEAT." 
From every stormy wind that blows, 
From every swelling tide of woes- 
There is a calm— a sure retreat, 
'Tis found beneath the mercy-seat. 

There is a place, where Jesus sheds 
The oil of gladness on our heads ; 
A place than all besides more sweet, 
It is the blood-bought mercy-seat. 

There is a scene, where spirits blend- 
Where friend holds fellowship with friend ; 
Though sundered far, by faith they meet 
Around one common mercy-seat. 

Ah ! whither could we flee for aid, 
When tempted, desolate, dismayed ? 
Or how the hosts of hell defeat, 
Had suffering saints no mercy-seat ? 

There, there, on eagle wings we soar, 
And sin, and sense, seem all no more ; 
And heav'n comes down our souls to greet, 
And glory crowns the mercy-seat. 

Oh ! let my hand forget her skill, 
My tongue be silent, cold, and still ; 
This bounding heart forget to beat, 
If I forget— the mercy-seat ! 



194 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

But, while the saints find shelter beneath the 
outstretched arm of the Almighty, what shall 
be the fate of the poor sinner, who stoutly re- 
sists the sweet and gentle voice of Divine love 
and compassion? Shall we not, also, address a 
word of solemn warning and admonition to him? 

Sinner, art thou still secure ? 

Wilt thou still refuse to pray? 
Can thy heart or hands endure 

In the Lord's avenging day ? 

See, His mighty arm is bared, 

Awful terrors clothe His brow I 
For his judgment stand prepared, 

Thou must either break or bow. 

At His presence nature shakes, 

Earth, affrighted, hastes to flee ; 
Solid mountains melt like wax, 

What will, then, become of thee? 

Who His advent may abide? 

You that glory in your shame, 
Will you find a place to hide, 

When the world is wrapt in flame ? 



XIX. THE TRIUMPH OF GENTLENESS AND 
LOVE. 

"Love suffers long with patient eye, 
Nor is provoked in haste ; 
She lets the present injury die, 
And long forgets the past." 

In entering upon the second part of our gen- 
eral subject, we had occasion to remark that the 
ominous appearance of the latter portion of the 
Parable would serve a good purpose in the way 
of helping to set off in stronger colors the beauty 
and grandeur of the earlier portion. In explain- 
ing and illustrating our subject, therefore, we 
have constantly had this feature of the matter 
in view. But, only at the point, to which we 
have now arrived, is it possible to bring out 
this contrast fully, and thus exhibit the sweet, 
pleasing, and subduing power of the Divine 
Love. Here, only, are the deep fountains of 
the father's kind and loving heart fully unseal- 
ed, and its sweet waters permitted to flow forth 
in all their healing power and transcendent 
glory. Here only do we see distinctly the free- 

195 



196 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

ness and fulness of the Divine compassion tri- 
umphing over the disorder and selfishness of 
the human heart, in its deep depravity. 

To the heartless complaints, and the bit- 
ter and insulting accusations of the unnatu- 
ral son, the benevolent father answered in the 
very mildest and most conciliatory terms: 
"Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have 
is thine." Had the elder son been at all able to 
recognize the fact of his being always with the 
father, as the highest conceivable good, he would 
not have been tempted to insult and abuse the 
parental love. For, is not our free union and 
communion with the eternal fountain of life and 
bliss, the perfection of our happiness ? Can we, 
in fact, find happiness in anything else, except 
only as we enjoy it in union and fellowship with 
the Father of our spirits ? The apostle St. John, 
standing in the blessed communion of saints, 
says: "That which we have seen and heard de- 
clare we unto you, that ye also may have fel- 
lowship with us; and truly our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 

How many of those highly favored persons, 



TIIE TRIUMPH OF GENTLENESS AND LOVE. 197 

who stand externally in union with the church, 
and enjoy its precious privileges and life-giving 
ordinances, yet fail to see, that, only in living 
communion with God, do we enjoy true and sub- 
stantial happiness ! How many such fail to un- 
derstand that all divine ordinances and institu- 
tions — Word and Sacraments — can be of value 
to us only in so far as we heartily respond to the 
solemn challenge they present, and thus look 
through the outward and material shell to the 
inner heart and core of these Divine arrange- 
ments! Multitudes, in the church, as well as 
outside of it, need greatly to learn this essential 
lesson of seeking happiness only in God. Here, 
truly, the words of the great Augustine hold 
good: "Thou, God, hast created us for Thy- 
self, and our hearts are without rest until they 
rest in Thee." 

So also, evidently, thought the father in the 
Parable; and, hence, he said: "Son, thou art 
ever with me: and all that I have is thine." In 
union with the "Father of our spirits" we 
enjoy free and uninterrupted access to all the 
rich and boundless treasures of Divine grace; 



198 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

a fact, which, in his writings, is frequently ad- 
verted to by St. Paul. Indeed, he seems to 
have had distinctly in view the beautiful words 
of the injured father to his son, when he wrote 
that most beautiful and sublime passage 
concerning our filial relation to God: "For ye 
have not received the spirit of bondage again 
to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of 
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The 
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, 
that we are the children of God: and if 
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with 
Him, that we may be also glorified together." 
how many of those unfortunate Christians, 
who, weak in faith, go about mourning all their 
days, or, what is worse, complaining of the 
dealings of the Lord with themselves and 
others, might be happy in God's love, if only 
they would seek communion with Him in the 
way w T hich He has ordained ! 

"All that I have is thine." Is it thus with 
you, my friend ? Have you free access to the 
fountain of that rich and abounding grace 



THE TRIUMrn OF GENTLENESS AND LOVE. 199 

wherein it is your privilege to stand? Are 
you in felt sympathy with the mind and heart 
of the Everlasting Father — the inexhaustible 
fountain of life and salvation? Are you, in 
the power of a living faith, one with Jesus 
Christ, as He is one with the Father? Are 
you walking in the Spirit, so as not to fulfil the 
lusts of the flesh ? Is God, indeed, your highest 
— your everlasting portion? How does your 
heart feel tow T ards all these higher and holier 
interests of the spiritual and eternal w r orld? 
If you are inside of the Church of Christ you 
are clearly entitled to all the blessed things 
which have just been brought to your notice; 
and, if you do not enjoy them in all their 
fulness, it is your own most criminal fault. If 
you, who are now reading these pages, are still 
out in the uncovenanted world, which, ac- 
cording to the sure word of prophecy, is 
destined to perish, then I solemnly call upon 
you instantly to flee to the cross of Christ for 
pardon and reconciliation ; that, being rescued 
from the power of the wicked one, you may live 
in sweet and blessed fellowship with the Lord 



200 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

of life and glory. In Him we are perfectly- 
safe. "For, if, when we were enemies, we were 
reconciled to God by the death of His Son; 
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved 
by His life." 

All this we conceive to be implied in the 
kindly words of the father: "Son, thou art 
ever with me; and all that I have is thine." 
And here he might well have stopped short. 
He had said enough, surely, to satisfy com- 
pletely, not only his own son who then stood 
before him, but also all men everywhere, and 
in all ages of the world, standing in a similar 
relation to the blessed God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ — "the elder brother." But 
the overflowing fountain of a father's love could 
not be restrained. He had just come out from 
the fairy scenes of the festive hall, his parental 
heart still bounding in the gushing tide of that 
exuberant joy which filled every bosom in the 
presence of the repentant and reconciled son. 
The sacred fire burned furiously in his agitated 
bosom, and his tongue spake forth the glowing 
love-thoughts in words most beautiful and 



THE TRIUMPH OF GENTLENESS AND LOVE. 201 

touching. " It was meet that we should make 
meriy, and be glad : for this thy brother was 
dead, and is alive again: and was lost, and 
is found." 

In these beautiful words, the heart-broken 
father gently and lovingly chides his unnatural 
son, and reminds him of his near and endearing 
relation to the reclaimed and now happy Prodi- 
gal. "For this thy brother was dead, and is 
alive again; and was lost, and is found! " On 
this ground he justifies his own conduct, and 
that of his guests. The return of the lost one 
was so singularly accordant with the benevolent 
feelings that struggled in the bosom of the 
father, and yet so surprisingly strange in the 
eyes of his guests, that neither he nor they 
could do otherwise than rejoice. "It was meet 
that we should make merry and be glad," says 
the delighted father. And our own hearts, an- 
imated by the sympathetic spirit of the gospel, 
instinctively respond to this rational and kindly 
sentiment. 

But our present purpose is to insist upon the 
importance of the words going before. "Son, 
9* 



202 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

thou art ever with me, and all that I have is 
thine." In communion with him in the family 
circle everything was at the service of the elder 
son, as also of every other member of the sweet 
and happy group that gathered, night and morn- 
ing, around the family altar, and there offered 
up in blissful experiences their sacrifices of 
prayer and praise ! And shall we, who are still 
more highly favored, and endued with yet larger 
measures of divine grace, than those in the 
earlier dispensation, here represented, — shall we 
despise our Christian birth-right, and refuse to 
enjoy its rich blessings, because they must be 
enjoyed in communion with God, and in the 
sweet fellowship of the saints — in the Father's 
house ? Nay, rather let us rejoice, that, when 
the soul is weary and oppressed, we have a 
resting-place to go to — the quiet and peaceful 
palaces of God's house. " In all places where 
I record my name/' saith the Lord, there " will 
I come unto thee, and I will bless thee." Or, 
as we have it still more beautifully and more 
encouragingly said, in connection with the 
dedication of the temple, " And the Lord said 



THE TRIUMril OF GENTLENESS AND LOVE. 203 

unto him," Solomon, " I have heard thy prayer 
and thy supplication that thou hast made 
before me : I have hallowed this house, which 
thou hast built, to put my name there forever ; 
and mine eyes and my heart shall be there 
perpetually." While, with this assurance rest- 
ing, like a healing balm, upon our hearts, we 
draw near to our Father's house, to seek a 
place there, we may also, in the sweet and 
blissful words of the Poet, invoke the gracious 
presence of our God and Father, " in whom we 
live, and move, and have our being." 

DESIRE FOR GOD'S PRESENCE. 

Wilt Thou not visit me ? 
The plant beside me feels Thy gentle dew ; 

Each blade of grass, I see, 
From Thy deep earth its quickening moisture drew. 

Wilt Thou not visit me ? 

Wilt Thou not visit me ? 
The morning calls on me with cheering tone ; 

And every hill and tree 
Lends but one voice, the voice of Thee alone. 

Wilt Thou not visit me ? 

Wilt Thou not visit me ? 
I need Thy gentle love 
More than the flower the dew, or grass the rain; 
Come, like Thy holy dove, 



204 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

And let me in Thy sight rejoice to live again. 
Wilt Thou not visit me ? 

Yes . Thou wilt visit me ; 
Nor plant, nor tree, Thine eye delights so well, 

As, when, from sin set free, 
Man's spirit comes with Thine in peace to dwell. 

Yes ! Thou wilt visit me. 

— FBOM THE SHAWM. 



XX. THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 

" Great is Thy mercy, and my tongue 
Shall those sweet wonders tell, 
How by Thy grace my sinking soul 
Rose from the deeps of hell." 

The injured father, patient and gentle though 
he was, could not consistently suffer the unjust 
accusation of his elder son to pass unnoticed. 
His own character must, by all means, be vin- 
dicated. Sweet and charming, indeed, as angel 
voices, are the blessed words of vindication. 
" It was meet that we should make merry, and 
be glad : for this thy brother was dead, and is 
alive again ; and was lost, and is found." 

Thus spake the loving and enthusiastic 
father — spake from the overflowing fulness of 
his heart. And it was, truly, meet and right 
•for the happy father and his no less happy 
guests to "make merry and be glad," when 
the lost one came back as from the regions of 
the dead. If, according to the Parable of the 

205 



206 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

" lost sheep," there is joy in heaven over one 
sinner that repenteth," and if, also, according 
to the closely related Parable of the ten pieces 
of silver, " there is joy in the presence of the 
angels of God," here on earth, why then should 
there not have been joy in the father's house — 
symbolizing the Church both in heaven and on 
earth — when one that was dead, came to life, 
and the lost one was found ? 

Some thirty-five years ago a little girl was 
sent to a store, in which we then stood as 
clerk, for a few small articles. In returning to 
its mother's residence, in an obscure and 
remote section of the town, the child unfortu- 
nately lost its way, became bewildered, and 
wandered, lonely and distressed, all that day 
over hill and dale without finding its way back. 
Night came on, and the child was still absent. 
Search was made for the lonely wanderer in 
every direction, but all in vain. The poor 
little creature had gotten into the hemlock 
swamps; and not being able to get to any 
human habitation, it slept that night alone in 
the gloomy forest. Next day, about noon, it 



THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 207 

was found sitting on tlio railroad track, and, 
amidst shouts of joy, was carried back to the 
arms of its widowed mother. We may well 
imagine the deep and lively interest which the 
^ss of the dear little one had excited in that 
whole community, and the still deeper interest, 
and the exuberant joy, which its discovery and 
safe return to the embrace of its almost dis- 
tracted mother occasioned. Had it caused less 
excitement in the community, and less of keen 
suffering and crushing anguish in the mother's 
heart, the case would have been considered un- 
natural, and the conduct of the community 
universally condemned. 

And shall we acknowledge the presence and 
legitimate operation of so mighty a principle, 
— a principle of deep and heart-felt sympathy 
with the erring and the lost, and of sincere joy 
at their safe return, among men, generally, and 
not confess its propriety, also, in connection 
with the kingdom of God? If, in the lower 
forms of human society, we feel the presence 
of such a power, binding together in strong 
and enduring bonds, its several members, shall 



208 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

we not, also, acknowledge the presence of this 
same power, greatly intensified, in that highest 
form of human society — the communion of the 
blessed saints? If among men, in the exercise 
of their natural feelings, simply, there is such in- 
tense joy exhibited in the finding of that which 
was lost, and in the recovery of that which 
was on the very borders of death, shall we 
deem it strange and unnatural that men, in the 
exercise of a diviner love and deeper feeling, 
should rejoice in the redemption of men from 
a far sadder loss and an infinitely more terrible 
fate? And, if, in the Church on earth, " there 
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 
one sinner that repenteth," why should there 
not be much rather "joy in heaven," propheti- 
cally indicated by the father's house, when, as 
in the person of the Prodigal Son, a sinner pen- 
itently returns to his forsaken God and Father? 
Heaven is the blessed home of the angels and 
of "the spirits of just men made perfect," and, 
accordingly, exhibits in the highest possible form 
and greatest power this sympathetic love of God 
And, as this was to be imaged forth by the love 



THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 209 

of the earthly father to his straying child, as 
. in this joy of heart over the sons repen- 
tance and return home, so it was " meet," in- 
deed, that all those in the house along with the 
lather " should make merry, and be glad," when 
the rescued wanderer stood, pardoned and re- 
conciled, in their midst ! 

Who can fully estimate and picture to himself, 
in all their dread import, the several terms used 
in this description of the returning Prodigal — 
"dead" and "alive"— "lost" and "found?" 
Come with me to the solemn task of bringing up 
before the inquisitive mind some adequate con- 
ception of what these pregnant words mean. 
The first of these terms "dead" instinctively 
leads the imagination back to the primal scenes 
in the history of our race. When the original 
pair, beautiful and pure as the blessed angels, 
stood before God to receive His first and lasting 
benediction, they understood to some extent, 
and felt in their innocent hearts, in a way now 
unknown, the deep meaning and hidden power 
of the word "life;" and, as death was the dread 
penalty and threatened forfeiture of life, in case 



210 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

of transgression, it is natural to suppose, that, 
after their sad apostacy, and while yet lingering 
in the border-land of a lost innocence, they also 
felt, as no one likely now can feel, the dread im- 
port of the word " death." The sparkling dew 
and freshness of life's early morning still rested 
upon them, when the terrible blow of sin and 
conscious guilt came with overwhelming force 
and crushing weight upon the smitten heart. 
In the shady bower, and amid the fairy and fas- 
cinating scenes — luscious fruits, and fragrant 
flowers, and waving trees, and soft, sweet, balmy 
air — of the lovely Eden, which, in His kindness, 
God had planted for them, they were at first 
permitted to roam in perfect bliss. " Of every 
tree of the garden thou may est freely eat," said 
the Eternal Father to His new-born son; "but 
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou 
shalt not eat of it : for in the day that thou eat- 
est thereof, thou shalt surely die." 

This commandment, or permission, rather, 
and grant of privilege, was to govern and 
regulate the conduct of the happy pair; and, 
in the observance of this life-rule, they were to 



THE nOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 211 

enjoy the conscious presence and perpetual 
benediction of the Lord; in the disregard of it, 
they were to forfeit these inestimable privileges 
and blessings. "In the day thou eatest thereof, 
thou shalt surely die," extended, in its divine 
power and dread reality, to the whole race of 
Adam, as well as to himself. When this law 
of life was transgressed by the happy pair, all 
its fearful contents, in the way of curse and 
penalty, came instantaneously upon them, and 
lay, in conscious malediction, upon their 
bleeding hearts. "Dying, thou shalt die," or 
doubly die, as it might, perhaps, be legitimately 
rendered, was the divinely appointed penalty 
affixed to this original rule of righteousness and 
life. In its transgression the dread penalty was 
incurred, and death, spiritual, temporal, and 
eternal, at once took the place of that sweet 
and blessed sense of innocence, life, and free 
intercourse with God, which, until now, had 
been within, and over and around them, as the 
overshadowing and blissful presence of Jehovah ! 
And, in the loss of this innocence and purity, 
the precious gift of God, and the indispensable 



212 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

condition of free communion with Him, they 
also lost God Himself. The sense of this 
infinite loss comes out in a singularly striking 
and impressive way, in that, "when they heard 
the voice of the Lord God walking in the 
garden in the cool of the day," the guilt- 
stricken pair, instinctively concealed "them- 
selves from the presence of the Lord amongst 
the trees of the garden." Next followed the 
fatal and significant expulsion from the garden, 
and the sad lot of the man, to "till the ground 
from whence he was taken." And then, lest 
he should turn back again to the forfeited 
home, the Lord "placed at the east of the 
garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword 
which turned every way, to keep the way of 
the tree of life." All these sad and painful 
elements, which mark the successive steps in 
the fall of man, enter, also, in intensified and 
higher form, into the words " death " and "loss," 
as found in connection with our Parable. And 
all these things speak in the way of prophecy 
and warning of that final expulsion, "when 
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven 



THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 213 

with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and 
that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of His power." 

And what shall we understand by the words, 
"alive again" and "found," as employed by the 
delighted father, in reference to his erring, yet 
now recovered son? They are used in contrast 
with the words "dead" and "lost," and, 
consequently, are designed to bring before us 
things precisely the opposite of those suggested 
by the use of these terms. They naturally 
suggest that gracious restoration of the soul to 
the favor and blessing of God, which the Lord 
Jesus, by His obedient life and atoning death 
upon the cross, has made possible for us. 
"These things I write unto you that ye sin 
not," says St. John, "and if any man sin, we 
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous : and He is the propitiation for 
our sins; and not for ours only,. but also for the 
sins of the whole world." We may not be able 



214 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

fully to describe this redemption from sin, and 
restoration of man to the image and likeness 
of God, nor may we be able to paint adequately 
the glories of that upper world, which, 
according to the sure word of prophecy, is to 
be the future home of the saints. These things 
we shall know better hereafter. We know, 
however, that our future home shall be un- 
speakably glorious and transcendently beautiful 
— the blessed "inheritance of the saints in 
light." We know, also, that our future condi- 
tion will infinitely surpass in beauty, and 
blessedness, and glory, all that ever eye hath 
seen, or ear hath heard, or that the human 
heart, in its best and loftiest' aspirations, even, 
hath ever conceived. " Beloved, now are we the 
sons of God," says St. John, "and it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be : but we know, that, when 
He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we 
shall see Him as He is. And every man that 
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as 
He is pure." And this naturally reminds us of 
what the dear Lord Himself says: "Blessed 
are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." 



THE HOME FESTIVITIES VINDICATED. 215 

"HEAVEN." 

High in yonder realms of light, 
Dwell the raptnr'd saints above; 

Far beyond our feeble sight, 
Happy in ImmanueTs love. 

Pilgrims in this vale of tears, 

Once they knew, like us below, 
Gloomy doubts, distressing fears, 

Tort'ring pain and heavy woe. 

Oft the big unbidden tear, 
Stealing down the furrow'd cheek, 

Told in eloquence sincere, 
Tales of woe they could not speak. 

But these days of weeping o'er, 

Past this scene of toil and pain, 
They shall feel distress no more, 

Never— never weep again I 



XXI. CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 

" There is an hour of peaceful rest, 

To mourning wanderers given : 
There is a tear for souls distrest, 
A balm for every wounded breast, 

'Tis found alone—in heaven." 

We have now nearly finished our pleasant 
task — our sweet labor of love. We have 
faithfully and affectionately discharged our 
duty so far as our utmost ability and sincerest 
efforts have enabled us to do so. We first met 
with the two sons apparently happy and con- 
tented in the father's house. We have carefully 
traced and pointed out the first motions and 
incipient risings of discontent in the bosom of 
the younger son. We have shown how this 
rising discontent came to a fatal crisis in the 
ominous request for his portion of the paternal 
estate. We have described the division of the 
property or "living," among the two sons; and, 
how, "not many days after, the younger son 

gathered all together, and took his journey 
215 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 217 

into a far country." We also watched his dissi- 
pation there, and the sinful wasting of his 
substance in the way of " riotous living;" and 
have related, how, "when he had spent all," 
and was looking around for other sources of 
supply, " there arose a mighty famine in that 
land; and he began to be in want." We have 
shown how "he went and joined himself to a 
citizen of that country," and how this new 
master "sent him into the fields to feed swine; " 
and, also, how, in this unnatural alliance, he was 
reduced to the greatest extremity, and "would 
fain have filled his belly with the husks that 
the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him." 
We, also, traced, with intense interest and hearty 
sympathy, the first risings of contrition in his 
heaving bosom; how, "when he came to him- 
self, he said, how many hired servants of my 
father's have bread enough and to spare, and I 
perish with hunger." We likewise brought in 
review before you his manly resolution to re- 
trace his steps, and make open and honest con- 
fession of his wanderings, saying, "I have sin- 
ned against heaven, and before thee, and am no 



218 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

more worthy to be called thy son : make me as 
one of thy hired servants." We showed how, 
in obedience to his solemn resolution, "he arose 
and came to his father;" and how, that, being 
"yet a great way off, his father saw him, and 
had compassion on him, and ran, and fell on his 
neck, and kissed him;" and how, being over- 
powered by the compassionate love of the father, 
he feelingly said unto him, "Father, I have 
sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am 
no more worthy to be called thy son." We also 
remarked, how, at this point, the father merci- 
fully interrupted the son, and thus spared him 
his excessive humiliation, by preventing the ad- 
dition of the prayer, which he had contemplated 
offering, namely, that the father should make 
him as one of his "hired servants." We also 
had occasion to notice his rehabilitation, by 
having the "best robe" put on him, also a "ring 
on his hand," and "shoes on his feet." We 
gratefully referred to his joyous reception into 
the paternal mansion, and to the welcome-home 
festivities in honor of his return ; how the ser- 
vants were commanded to "bring hither the 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 219 

fatted calf," and prepare it for the festal occa- 
sion, that so they might "eat and be merry," 
and how the whole company responded in joy- 
ous exultation to the saying of the father: 
"This, my son, was dead, and is alive again; he 
was lost, and is found/' 

Having thus traced the course of the younger 
son, and followed him, with compassionate in- 
terest, through all his painful wanderings, and 
degradation, and sorrow, until, heart-broken 
and penitent, he returned again to the forsaken 
home, and found pardon and peace in the arms 
of his father; we then found another picture 
coming into the foreground, that of his elder 
brother, returning from the field. We saw, how, 
hearing the "music and dancing' ' within, he 
was struck with astonishment, and at once 
began to grow dark with suspicion; and how, 
refusing to enter the house, "he called one of 
the servants, and asked what these things 
meant." We saw how circumstantially the 
faithful and unsuspecting servant related to 
him the cause of the wonderful rejoicing in the 
palace: "Thy brother is come; and thy father 



220 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath 
received him safe and sound." We found, that, 
notwithstanding this touching and pathetic 
picture, the elder son grew " angry, and would 
not go in;" and, how, in consequence of this 
refusal to go into the house and take part in 
the festivities, the " father came out and en- 
treated him." And, then, in the discharge of 
our duty, we had to perform the painful task of 
recounting the bitter reproaches and unjust 
accusations of the elder son against his kind 
and indulgent parent; how, with words of 
veriest wormwood and of gall, he said to his 
heart-stricken father, "Lo, these many years 
do I serve thee ; neither transgressed I at any 
time thy commandment; and, yet, thou never 
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with 
my friends;" and, how, flinging a shameless 
imputation at his unfortunate brother, and 
openly reviling him, he continued his bitter and 
cutting invective against the injured father; 
"but as soon as this thy son" — not my brother 
— " was come, which hath devoured thy living 
with harlots, thou hast killed for Jhim the fatted 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 221 

calf." And, finally, we found, in the calm and 
kindly answer of the insulted parent, the full 
and triumphant vindication of Divine love and 
compassion. Calmly and patiently overlooking 
the heartless accusation and bitter invective of 
his elder son, he meekly, and with evident emo- 
tion, said, " Son, thou art ever with me, and all 
that I have is thine. It was meet that we 
should make merry, and be glad : for this thy 
brother" — yes, thy brother — "was dead, and is 
alive again; and was lost, and is found." 

Amid the sweet fragrance and spreading 
perfume exhaling from this most beautiful and 
pathetic saying, we feel like laying down our 
weary pen, while exclaiming with the holy 
Apostle St. Peter: "Blessed be the God and 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according 
to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again 
unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance 
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth 
not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are 
kept by the power of God, through faith unto 
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last 



222 GIFT-BOOK ^OR THE MILLION. 

time; * * * of which salvation the prophets 
have inquired, and searched diligently, who 
prophesied of the grace that should come unto 
you; searching what, or what manner of time, 
the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did 
signify, when it testified beforehand the suffer- 
ings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 

" He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that 
overcometh, will I give to eat of the hidden 
manna; and will give him a white stone, and in 
the stone a new name written, which no man 
knoweth saving he that receiveth it." 

" Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast 
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." 
— " Blessed are they that do His command- 
ments, that they may have right to the tree of 
life, and may enter in through the gates into 
the city." 

The following beautiful poem we found on a 
slip cut from an old newspaper. We have 
lately met with it in one of our Beligious 
Papers, with the appended response, but without 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 223 

any reference to its source. We are not able 
to say who is its genial and happy author; 
hence we cannot give the writer credit by name, 
nor ask permission for its insertion. But we 
must have it for our lone and weary pilgrims, 
and cannot do without it; and we feel sure that 
the sweet and gentle spirit that breathed forth 
these beautiful and tender lines, whether still 
in the body, or already "beyond the river," 
will kindly forgive us for inserting them here 
for the use of earth's erring, sinning, and sor- 
rowing ones, penitently returning to the Father's 
house, and begging there for pardon and* 
re-admission! May God bless these beautiful 
lines to their spiritual good, and, thus, help them 
to come into His presence with acceptance, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

" FATHER, TAKE MY HAND." 
The way is dark, my Father! Cloud on cloud 
Is gathering thickly o'er my head and loud 
The thunders roar above me. See, I stand 
Like one bewildered ! Father, take my hand, 
And through the gloom 
Lead safely home 
Thy child! 

The day goes fast, my Father I And the night 
Is drawing darkly down. My faithless sight 



224 GIFT-BOOK FOR THE MILLION. 

Sees ghostly visions. Fears, a spectral band, 
Encompass me. O Father I take my hand, 

And from the night 

Lead up to light 
Thy child! 

The way is long, my Father ! And my soul 
Longs for the rest and quiet of the goal : 
While yet I journey through this weary land, 
Keep me from wandering. Father, take my hand; 

Quickly and straight 

Lead to heaven's gate 
Thy child! 

The path is rough, my Father ! Many a thorn 
Has pierced me ; and my weary feet, all torn 
And bleeding, mark the way. Yet Thy command 
Bids me press forward. Father, take my hand ; 

Then, safe and blest, 

Lead up to rest 
Thy child ! 

The throng is great, my Father ! Many a doubt 
And fear and danger compass me about ; 
And foes oppress me sore. I cannot stand 
Or go alone. O Father ! take my hand, 

And thro' the throng 

Lead safe along 
Thy child! 

The cross is heavy, Father ! I have borne 
It long, and still do bear it. Let my worn 
And fainting spirit rise to that blest land 
Where crowns are given. Father, take my hand ; 

And, reaching down, 

Lead to the crown 

Thy child! 

— The Changed Crou. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 225 



RESPONSE. 

The way is dark, my child, but leads to light ; 
I would not always have thee walk by sight; 
My dealinga now thou canst not understand ; 
I meant it so, but I will take thy hand, 

And thro' the gloom 

Lead safely home 
My child. 

The way is long, my child, but it shall be 

Not one step longer than is best for thee ; 

And thou shalt know at last, when thou shalt stand 

Safe at the goal, how I did take thy hand, 

And quick and straight 

Led to heaven's gate 
My child. 

The path is rough, my child, but oh I how sweet 
Will be the rest, for weary pilgrims meet, 
When thou shalt reach the borders of that land, 
To which I lead thee as I take thy hand ; 

And safe and blest, 

With me shall rest 
My child. 

The throng is great, my child, but at thy side 
Thy Father walks. Then be not terrified, 
For I am with thee — will thy foes command 
To let thee freely pass— will take thy hand 

And thro' the throng 

Safe lead along 
My child. 

The cross is heavy, child, yet there was One m 

Who bore a heavier for thee — my Son, 
My well-beloved. For Him bear thine and stand 
With Him at last, and from thy Father's hand, 
Thy cross laid down, 
Receive a crown, 
My child. 

— " Our Church Paper." 



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